Inheritance
by Mcfergeson
Summary: Casey Novak, Olivia Benson and the rest of the detectives of the SVU find themselves in a desperate race to save the life of a little girl. A direct sequel to Allegiance.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: The Law & Order SVU characters were created, and are owned by, Dick Wolf. I claim no ownership of these characters, nor am I making any money off of this story. _

_This story takes place one year after the events of Allegiance, during the seventh season,shortly before the events of the episode "Fault"._

_This story is not recommended to younger readers because of the harsh language._

"Wait a minute," Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak said, as she shook her head in disbelief, "please say that again!"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone as Captain Donald Cragen took a deep breath. "We suffered a fire in the evidence room," he said, with a heavy sigh. "We've had to evacuate the stationhouse for a while."

Casey immediately thought of Elliot. "Is he…um, are you guys all right?"

"Yeah, Casey, we're all fine, thanks. The fire was contained in the evidence room. The FDNY kept it from spreading to the rest of the building."

There was an uneasy silence as Cragen paused once again.

"That's great, Don. I'm really glad you guys are fine," Casey sincerely said, as she braced herself for the bad news to was to come. "Now, about the evidence room, what was damaged?"

"Everything," Cragen grimly told her.

That one word was like a slug to the stomach for Casey, who had to abruptly sit down as soon as she heard it. "Oh, Christ…."

"Yeah," Cragen glumly said, "that was pretty much our reaction, as well."

"Don, the Beauchamp tapes," Casey began, "were they--?"

"They're gone, as well, Casey. They've burnt to cinders."

'Oh shit, shit, shit…!' Casey thought, as she put her hand over her eyes in despair. Charles Beauchamp was a college professor who turned out to be a sadistic rapist of his female students. The arrogant bastard had actually recorded himself in the act of raping several of his victims. Regardless of his horrendous crimes, Beauchamp had kept slipping out of the grip of the Special Victim's Unit detectives, because he was too careful, and also because none of his victims would testify against him thanks to the fear he instilled in them. They didn't even know about the horrid tapes that he made until his stepdaughter, a brave little girl named Lilly, found them stashed away in a hidden spot in the attic of their home.

'Oh God, Lilly,' Casey thought, as she recalled that she was due to meet with the little girl and her mother today in court. "All right," she said into the phone, "Look, I gotta go. But I'll stop by later."

"Right, see you then," Cragen said, before he hung up.

Casey sat back down in the chair behind her desk and placed both hands over her eyes. The tapes were the best evidence they had against Charles Beauchamp, and with them gone, the case against him was now going to be a hell of a lot harder to try.

"SHIT!" Casey cursed in frustration.

She removed her hands from her eyes just in time to see Kelly Gaffney, a fellow ADA in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, stop short in her doorway. The blonde gave her a sheepish look as she asked, "Bad time?"

"Bad day is more like it," Casey muttered in disgust. "What can I do for you, Kelly?"

"I just ran into Arthur in the hallway," Kelly said. "And he wants to see you in his office, ASAP."

'Oh great…just wonderful!' Casey thought with renewed disgust. She had been hoping to avoid her boss until she could at least get a handle on the situation, but Branch wanted to see her right now. She wondered if he heard about the fire at the one six. "Ok, I'm on my way out, anyway. I can stop by his office." She frowned at Kelly, whose morose expression told Casey that she appeared to be having some problems of her own. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Kelly replied, with a slight smile that did not reach her eyes.

Casey collected her things and left the office, and as she walked out with Kelly, she did a double take: it appeared as though Kelly had been crying. "Are you sure you're all right, Kelly?"

"I said I'm fine!" Kelly snapped, as she took a defensive step backwards from Casey. Letting out an annoyed sigh, she threw her hands at Casey in annoyance as she stormed down the hallway.

"Well excuse me for caring," Casey whispered, baffled at the woman's behavior.

'The world is coming apart at the seams today,' Casey dolefully thought. 'And it'll only get even worse once Norton finds out about the fire.'

Yet thinking about Beauchamp's attorney had actually given Casey an idea--one that might not work, but she was wiling to give it a shot. When she arrived at the office of Arthur Branch, the District Attorney's secretary waved her right on past. "Mr. Branch is expecting you, Ms. Novak."

Arthur Branch was a tall gentleman with balding gray hair and good old boy mannerisms that seemed more fitting to the Deep South, rather than New York City. When he was first elected to the job, Casey wondered how this genteel country boy would ever survive the dog eat dog world of the New York courts and its insidious politics. Yet she soon realized that Branch was no country bumpkin; he had lived in the city for twenty years before seeking the job as its D.A. And despite his good-natured country boy ways, Branch was a shrewd politician who knew how to play the game as well as the best of them.

"Hello Casey," Branch said cheerily, as he glanced up at her from his desk. "I hear you've just been handed a real shit sandwich."

Another thing Casey learned about Branch was that he could be extremely blunt when he wanted to be. "Uh, yeah," Casey said, as she grimaced at the mental picture he just created for her. "I guess you heard about the fire at the one-six?"

"I wouldn't be much of a D.A. if I didn't hear about stuff like that," Branch said. He gestured for her to take a seat in front of his desk. "How are you situated in terms of evidence?"

"As far as the Beauchamp case goes, pretty badly," Casey replied as she sat down. "I'm told the videotapes are gone."

Branch nodded thoughtfully. "Did your entire case hinge on those tapes?"

"Pretty much," Casey said resignedly. "But I also have testimony from Beauchamp's ex-wife Linda. After Lilly, her daughter, found the box of tapes, Linda watched one of them. She could testify to the contents on the tape."

"Could she give details?" Branch asked. "For instance, did she know the woman who was being raped by Beauchamp on the tape?"  
"Yes," Casey said, as she consulted her files. "Linda identified her as being Rachel Gibbons, one of Beauchamp's students."

Branch sat back in his seat and dismally shook his head. "We were prosecuting Beauchamp as a serial rapist, and now we'll be lucky if we can get him just on the Gibbons' assault. Are you sure none of his victims will testify against him?"

"All of his victims were students at his college, and most of them don't live in the tri-state area," Casey said. "And of the ones who do, the SVU detectives reached out to them, but with no avail. Beauchamp's got them all badly scared."

"You have to reach out to them again, Casey, even the victims who live out of state," Branch told her. "Charles Beauchamp is a monster. And we cannot afford to let him back out on the streets again."

"I'm not giving up so easily," Casey solemnly promised. "In fact, I've got an idea. The chances of it working are pretty slim, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Do tell," Branch said.

"What if I offered Beauchamp a deal right now?" Casey said. "He was looking at a multiple-charge indictment as a serial rapist, but what if I offered him to accept a plea on rape, assault and unlawful imprisonment for just the Gibbons' case instead? I know it sucks," she added, "but since my evidence is now gone, Beauchamp has a pretty good chance of beating it in court."

"Whereas, if he accepts the plea, we're guaranteed that he's off the streets for a few years," Branch said. "But, as you've stated, your main piece of evidence is up in smoke--so what's stopping Beauchamp and his attorney, Norton, from telling you to take a hike?"

"They probably would tell me to take a hike," Casey said, "if they already knew my main evidence was up in smoke."

Branch smiled at her. "Bluff them? Make the plea bargain before they find out you're holding a weak hand?"

Casey nodded. "Like I said, it's a long shot. But if I meet with them quickly enough, and make it a 'take it or leave it' offer, I might be able to pull it off. And if we manage to find more solid evidence of his other assaults down the road, we can pin them on Beauchamp while he's in jail."

Casey's cell phone rang just then, and when she excused herself to answer it, she was stunned to see the name of who was calling on the I.D. screen. "It's Norton."

"She already knows your evidence is toast," Branch told her with a shake of his head.

When Casey answered the call, Alexis Norton began speaking in that high-pitched, chatterbox manner of her. "Hello, Casey! My client and I would like to have a meeting with you at Rikers sometime this afternoon. Are you free?"

Although Casey knew full well who Norton spoke of, she decided not to reveal her hand just yet. "Which client would that be, Alexis?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. And then Norton said, "Why Charles Beauchamp, of course."

Casey placed her hand over the cell phone and mouthed the words "she knows" to Branch. "Sure, I can be at Rikers within the hour. How does that sound?"

"Great, see you then." Norton hung up without saying goodbye. She was one of these high-powered, self-important egomaniacs who acted as if she had little time to indulge in the common courtesies of life.

"And so the battle begins," Casey grimly said, as she shut off her cell phone. "I'll get the SVU detectives to start contacting the Beauchamp victims. This case isn't dead yet."

"That's the spirit," Branch said. As she left his office, he called after her: "Good hunting!"

Casey grinned as she pressed the speed dial for Olivia on her cell phone. Every time Branch said that phrase to her, Casey thought she should be carrying a spear and a shield. But then again, maybe a spear and shield wouldn't be enough. 'If everyday starts getting to be as bad as today,' she wearily thought, 'then I should really think about investing in a suit of armor!'

**Special Victim's Unit Squad Room**

**16 Precinct**

**Manhattan**

"You guys are a bunch of pussies!" Detective Joe Harris exclaimed. "I never seen a group of people run so fast in my life!"

"Who are you kidding, Harris?" Detective Elliot Stabler retorted. "The fire alarm barely squeaked before you were the first one out the door!"

The assembled group of police officers and detectives all let out a collective "Ooooo!"

Harris shook his head and said, "There was a very good reason for that, Stabler."

"Oh yeah?" Elliot said. "Enlighten me."

"I had to make sure all the fire exits were unblocked," Harris told him with a straight face. When the whole room burst into laughter at his reply, he innocently added, "What?"

Elliot, grinning broadly, just waved his hand in mock-disgust at him.

Cragen came out of his office with a scowl on his face. "What's this? High school? Come on, folks, the excitement's over, so let's get back to work, shall we?"

As the captain left the squad room, the crowd quickly dispersed, and Elliot stared uneasily at the empty desk of his partner, Olivia Benson. He glanced around the squad room, but could not find her. He saw John Munch was seated at his desk, watching the goings-on in the squad room with a cool detachment behind his trademark tinted eyeglasses.

"You see Liv?" he asked.

Munch shook his head. "Haven't seen her since the evacuation. Now that you mention it, where the hell's Fin?"

"Right here," Detective Odafin Tutuola said as he strolled into the squad room. "What you whining about now?"

"Nothing," Munch said defensively. "Just wondering where you were, that's all. Didn't you get the all-clear?"

Fin took a seat at his desk. "Yeah, I heard it. What you riding me for?"

"I'm not riding you," Munch said. "You were a little late in coming back, and I was just wondering where you were! Is that too much to ask?"

"All right, look, I was late coming back because…I got a thing about fire, ok?" Fin said, looking uncomfortable. "It creeps me out, y'know? I just don't like fire is all."

"Who does?" Elliot asked sympathetically.

"Arsonists," Munch responded. "Did you know they've become the new breed of assassin these days? The CIA now has a covert operation in place where they recruit arsonists from--"

"Whoa, John, whoa!" Elliot said, waving his hands. "Just hold that thought for one second, ok?" Turning to Fin, he asked. "You see Liv around?"

"Yeah, she was downstairs, by the evidence room," Fin said, "or what's left of it, anyway!"

"Thanks, man. Ok, John, now tell us your latest theory," Elliot said, as he started walking away.

"But you won't be here to hear it," Munch called after him.

"Yeah," Elliot replied with a grin. "That was plan all along."

He headed downstairs, where there were firefighters lingering around, packing up their equipment. The smell of smoke still hung heavy in the air. He saw Cragen speaking intently with a fire captain. Olivia stood by the door that led into the evidence room, looking as if she had just lost her best friend.

Elliot came up alongside of her and stared into the evidence room. The walls, which were made of brick, were all blackened, and the large metal cage where the evidence was stored now looked like the inside of a well-used barbecue.

"Good God," Elliot muttered, as he surveyed the damage. "How bad?"

"It's bad," Olivia said, disgusted. "It's real bad, El. The Beauchamp tapes are gone. I was hoping to get at least some of them over to TARU for salvage, but they're all history. That son of a bitch is gonna walk."

"Never happen," Elliot assured her.

"I hope you're right." She shook her head. "You know, if Beauchamp wasn't in jail right now, I'd swear he was the one who set the fire."

"Speaking of which, do they know yet what caused it?" Elliot asked.

"Fire marshal said he thought it looked like an accident," Olivia said. "It started with a faulty outlet, the one that was in the evidence cage." Her cell phone rang just then, and she excused herself to answer it.

Cragen had finished his conversation with the FDNY captain and he came over and stood with Elliot by the doorway. "Well, at least it's not arson," Cragen said with a sigh. "It looks like bad wiring's the culprit."

"If nothing else, maybe this'll get John to cool it with the arsonist conspiracy theories," Elliot said hopefully.

Cragen looked doubtful. "This is John Munch we're talking about here. Since when has anything stopped him from ranting?"

"Yeah, you're right," Elliot admitted. "Wishful thinking on my part."

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Both Elliot and Cragen turned to see Olivia shouting into her cell phone. "Listen to me, Casey! What…yeah, of course I'll meet with Lilly and her mom, but…Casey, wait, don't…damn it, she hung up on me!"

"What happened?" Cragen asked.

"Norton, Beauchamp's attorney, called her, and asked for a meeting at Rikers," Olivia angrily said. "It's just what I thought, that son of a bitch is going to plea bargain his way out of this!"

"Is that what Casey said she'd do?" Elliot asked. "Offer him a plea bargain?"

"No, but that's what's going to happen, isn't it?" Olivia said.

Elliot doubted Casey was going to let Beauchamp off the hook that easily, no matter how badly her case was damaged. Despite his feelings, Elliot hesitated to jump to Casey's defense, mainly because the ADA had been his lover for a year, now, and he was sensitive--perhaps overly so--that it would look like he was simply defending his girlfriend. It was an awkward moment, and not the first one that Elliot encountered since he and Casey began dating.

"Why don't we wait and see what unfolds before we start pointing fingers at each other," Cragen said, giving voice to Elliot's thoughts.

"I promised Lilly that I would put her stepfather away forever, that he would never harm her again," Olivia heatedly said. She glared at Elliot and added, "But now, thanks to your girlfriend, with good behavior, that rat bastard will probably be out in as little as five years to terrorize Lilly all over again."

With that she turned on her heel and left.

"Oh, come on, Liv," Elliot said with a shake of his head. Observing decorum was one thing, but there was only so much he could take. "Give me a break! Hey, Liv!"

Cragen grabbed his arm. "No, let her go, Elliot. Let her cool off. She's taking this case a little personal, isn't she?"

"She's really close with Lilly Beauchamp," Elliot said. Not that Elliot could blame Olivia for getting close with Lilly--that kid was a real sweetheart who had more backbone than some cops he knew. She stood up to her monster of a stepfather during one scary night by uncovering his hidden cache of videotapes, and then Lilly even had the presence of mind to call Olivia for help when things got too hairy between Beauchamp and her mother.

When Elliot glanced back at the destroyed evidence room, he shook his head with anger.

'That brave little girl risked her very life to uncover those tapes, and now they're nothing more than ashes,' he thought.

"You know, cap, sometimes life is really fucking unfair," Elliot said darkly.

"Since when has it ever been fair?" Cragen softly replied.

**Manhattan Supreme Court**

**Lower Manhattan**

Olivia let out a weary sigh as she glanced over at the empty space in the southern New York skyline. It had been almost five years since the terrible events of 9/11, and yet even now she still had trouble getting used to not seeing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center looming over everything in downtown Manhattan.

Olivia grimly recalled that awful day, and the helplessness she'd felt. It was the same sort of helplessness she had felt earlier today at the one six, when she gazed into the scorched evidence room.

But the reminder of 9/11 made Olivia realize that some things were just out of her control. 'You just can't prevent certain bad things from happening,' she realized. 'Like a fire destroying all your evidence.'

As she briskly walked up the steps of the massive courthouse and presented her detective badge to the officer at the security checkpoint, Olivia inwardly cringed at the snide remark she made to Elliot; about how, thanks to his girlfriend, Beauchamp may be out of jail a lot sooner than any of them had planned.

'That was a real cheap shot,' Olivia chided herself. 'Casey's just scrambling to salvage what she can of a bad situation, just like the rest of us. I should apologize to Elliot later. I just hope he accepts my apology without getting frigging insufferable!'

Olivia paused to scan the crowds, and then burst into a grin when she saw a woman with a little girl standing meekly by the elevators.

Lily had seen Olivia first, and broke into a mad dash towards her. Her mother let out a startled shout--until she saw that her daughter was running towards Olivia and instantly relaxed.

Olivia bent down and tightly hugged Lily. "Hey, you!"

"Hey, you, too!" Lily replied with a shy giggle.

"How's my little buddy?" Olivia asked.

"Good," Lily said with a nod. "How's my big buddy?"

"Just great," Olivia said. "Listen, do me a favor: whenever you're in a crowded public place like this, don't ever run off like that from your mom, ok?"

"But I ran when saw you," Lily explained.

"I know, sweetie," Olivia said with a gentle shake of her head. "But even if you see somebody you know, you should never run away from mommy when you're in a crowded place, ok?"

"Ok," Lily solemnly promised.

"Hello Olivia," Linda said. Although she looked pleased to see her, there was some confusion on Linda's face. "I thought Casey was going to meet us today."

"She was, but she got called away at the last minute," Olivia replied. Casey had planned to give Lily a run-through of what testifying at the trial would be like in one of the empty courtrooms--which was something that Olivia could easily do in her place. "Come on, I'll take you guys upstairs."

"Is everything all right with the case?" Linda asked as they waited for the elevator.

"There's been a major development," Olivia said with a sigh. "I'll tell you upstairs, when we've got some more privacy."

Olivia decided that she would follow the pre-trial plan until she heard otherwise from Casey. She just hoped that when she did hear back from the ADA, Casey would have good news to tell.

**Conference Room**

**Rikers Island**

**New York City**

Casey smiled at the guard as he buzzed her through the gate. "How's it going, Neville?"

"Same old, same old," the guard replied. A twenty year veteran of Rikers, he was a burly African-American with a goatee and a completely bald head. "Yourself?"

"Pretty good," she said. Casey wasn't about to unload on him about what a crap fest her day had become. "In here to see Charles Beauchamp."

"Beauchamp's become a real belle of the ball today," Neville said. "He's got a lot of callers. First there was Childs, his good buddy, and now Ms. Norton and you."

Casey was about to walk on through until she abruptly stopped and ask, "Who's Childs?"

"Samuel Childs," Neville said. "That one's a regular visitor for Mr. Beauchamp. A real nasty dude. Doesn't say much to me."

"He's been here before?" Casey asked.

"Nearly everyday," Neville said. "I wish I had friends that were that faithful."

"Don't we all," Casey joked, as she walked through the doorway that he opened for her. She mentally tucked away the name Samuel Childs in a safe corner of her mind for now. A good prosecutor always kept all her options open.

When she arrived at the conference room, Casey found Alex Norton speaking with her client at the table. Charles Beauchamp was now clad in prison orange, yet almost a year behind bars could not wipe off that annoyingly smug look he always had.

Casey felt a chill when Beauchamp gave her an intense gaze, as if sizing her up as a future prey. He was so obvious that Norton actually noticed him staring and snapped him out of it by saying, "Charles!"

'You truly are a monster, you son of a bitch,' Casey thought, as she took a seat at the table opposite from them. Instead of scaring her, Beauchamp's actions only reaffirmed Casey's desire to keep him off the streets, no matter what it took.

"So, Alexis," Casey said. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, first off, let me just say how sorry I am about the fire at the one-six," Norton said, with her usual overwrought flair for dramatics. "Is everybody over there all right?"

'I'm not giving you a goddamn thing, you stinking bitch,' Casey thought. "There was a fire at the one-six?" she said, sounding stunned. "That's news to me. I should give them a call!"

For a brief moment, Norton's eyes narrowed into slits. "The fire was confined to the evidence room. I thought you might have heard about it by now."

'At least now I know how much she knows,' Casey thought with satisfaction. "I've been on the go all day, so this is the first time I've heard about it."

"I figured since your situation has now drastically changed," Norton said, "at least in in terms of your evidence, that you--"

"My situation hasn't changed at all, Alexis," Casey said firmly. "And unless your client wishes to confess to the rapes that he committed right here and now, then I expect to see the two of you in court next Monday morning."

"Oh, I'm looking forward to that," Norton said, with a broad grin. "It should be interesting to see you try a case with no evidence."

When she noticed Beauchamp leering at her once more, Casey said, "Careful, Mr. Beauchamp, or I'll tell your prison cellmate on you. Wouldn't want him to get jealous, now, do we?"

"You fucking bitch!" Beauchamp snarled at her.

"Charles! Shut up!" Norton cried.

Neville immediately appeared by the cell door, giving Beauchamp a hard look. "You all right, Ms. Novak?"

"We're fine!" Norton said frantically. "Nothing happened!"

"I'm ok, Neville, thanks," Casey said, as she got up from the table and calmly and casually collected her things. Before she stepped out of the conference cell, Casey glanced back at Beauchamp and Norton with a smug smile and said, "See you two in court."

As she strode down the hallway with Neville, Casey shook her head with disgust. 'This was just a fishing exhibition on Norton's part,' she realized. 'She heard about the fire at the one-six and was simply trying to get a read on how it affected my case.'

She just wished that her case against Charles Beauchamp was as solid as she pretended it to be. The thought of that monster once more stalking women sent a chill down Casey's spine.

When she entered the reception area, Casey was surprised to see Hector Salazar standing there, waiting for her. Hector used to be an NYPD detective until injuries he sustained when he got shot in the line of duty forced him to leave the force several years ago. He now worked as an investigator for the District Attorney's office. The NYPD's loss had been the D.A.'s Office gain, for Hector had proven to be one of the best investigators they ever hired.

"Casey," Hector said, walking up to her. His eyes kept darting at the people all around them.

"Hey, Hector," Casey said. She sensed something was wrong. "What is it?"

"The office said you'd be here," he told her. His eyes never stopped scanning the crowds. "I've got something important to tell you. But not here."

"All right, come with me," Casey replied. She immediately understood the need for privacy, and the reception area, which was filled with various people, was not a good place to share top secret information. Once they were outside, alone in the open air, Casey turned to him and asked, "What's up?"

"I just got a tip," Hector said. "Somebody put a contract out on one of your witnesses."

"Oh shit," Casey said. "It's Selma Romano, isn't it? Her husband just made bail the other day, and he swore that he would--"

But she stopped talking when Hector began to shake his head. "It's not Romano," he said. "It's someone else."

"Who is it?" Casey asked, her eyes wide.

"It's Lily Beauchamp," Hector whispered. "Someone put a contract out on Lily Beauchamp."

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

Casey reeled from what Hector had just told her. Her first thought was, 'As if that poor kid hasn't been through enough!'

"What's your source?" she asked Hector.

"An inmate right here," he replied. "I was talking to him about the details on a completely different case, when he told me about how this guy he met in the pen was bragging about how he was hired to 'do' Lily Beauchamp."

"Who's the guy doing the bragging?" Casey asked, pulling out a pen and a scrap of paper. "Please tell me you got a name!"

"Yeah, he's Marcus Sewell," Hector told her.

Casey wrote the name down. "And how is Mr. Sewell expected to go after Lily if he's in Rikers?"

"That's just it, Casey," Hector said with a shake of his head. "Sewell was released about three days ago."

'Oh Good Christ!' Casey thought, exasperated. 'This just keeps getting better!'

"I know it's not much," Hector said. "But the guy couldn't give me anything more than that."

"Are you familiar with the Beauchamp case, Hector?"

"Yeah, of course. This guy's the Jack The Ripper of rapists, isn't he?"

"And he's sitting in a cell right here at Rikers," Casey said, pointing to the building behind them. "The guard tells me that Beauchamp's been getting a steady visitor over the past few days. His name is Samuel Childs and I'd like for you to get as much info on him as you can. He was just here earlier today, so they'll still have his stuff on file. The guard who told me about him is Neville Owens. He'll I.D. Childs for you."

Hector nodded. "You got it."

"I'll meet you in there," Casey said. "I've got to call somebody right now." While Casey dug out her cell phone, she hoped to God that Olivia was still with Lily and Linda right now.

**Special Victim's Unit Squad Room**

**16 Precinct**

**Manhattan**

Olivia had just entered the squad room, and was about to apologize to Elliot for her behavior earlier, when her cell phone started ringing.

"How much you wanna bet that's lover boy calling?" Fin jokingly asked Elliot.

"That's not much of a bet," Elliot replied. "Because Eric's always calling her."

"For the last time, guys," Olivia muttered, as she pulled out her cell, "Eric and I aren't lovers--"

"--we're just friends," Elliot, Munch and Fin all said in unison.

"Sure, Liv," Elliot added with a knowing smile. "Whatever you say."

Olivia slowly shook her head in mock-aggravation. "Sweet Jesus, I'm in frigging kindergarten, here!"

"We're in kindergarten?" Munch excitedly asked. "Will there be finger-painting later?"

Olivia couldn't help but crack a smile as she brought the cell up to her ear and said, "Yeah, Benson."

"Olivia, are you still with Linda and Lily?" Casey frantically asked.

"No, we parted ways at the courthouse," Olivia said, her eyes growing wide as she sensed something was very wrong. "Linda was on an extended lunch break, she had to get back. Why?"

"I just got word that somebody put a hit out on Lily," Casey said. "A convict who was just released from Attica was bragging about getting the job. His name is Marcus Sewell."

Olivia stood there, stunned. Elliot, Fin and Munch--upon seeing her expression--all instantly ceased their joking and grew serious. "It's Casey," she told them. "She says somebody has put a hit out on Lily Beauchamp. The hit man is Marcus Sewell, an ex-con just released from Attica."

"Oh man!" Fin said, looking shocked. Munch simply shook his head in disgust.

Elliot abruptly got up from his desk and went over to Cragen's office. "Captain? We've got a problem!"

"You say somebody put a hit out on Lily," Olivia said to Casey. "But we know full well who the rat bastard is: Beauchamp."

"Don't worry, I'm handling it on that end right now," Casey assured her. "Beauchamp's been getting a regular visitor by the name of Samuel Childs, and I've got one of the D.A.'s investigators tracking him down right now."

"You think this Childs is Beauchamp's contact for the hit?" Olivia asked.

"That's what we're gonna find out."

"All right, we'll get Lily and her mom secure," Olivia said. "Talk to you later."

Cragen had come out of his office with Elliot, who had filled him in on the new developments so far. "Olivia, you and Elliot round up Lily and her mom, and bring them back here," Cragen ordered. "Munch, Fin: drop what you're doing and track down the whereabouts of Marcus Sewell, late of Rikers. Let's see if we can pay him a little a visit sometime today, shall we?"

"Will do, Captain," Munch said as he and Fin picked up their respective phones and got busy dialing.

"Casey has a D.A. investigator looking into a guy who visited Beauchamp in jail," Olivia told Cragen while she and Elliot threw their coats on. "Beauchamp's friend goes by the name of Samuel Childs."

"I'll wait on what Casey has to say about that end of it," Cragen said. "Meanwhile you and Elliot get going."

"We're gone," Olivia said over her shoulder, as she and Elliot rushed out the squad room. Within minutes they were in their squad car and racing down the street with Elliot driving.

"Is Lily back in school?" he asked.

"That's where Linda was taking her when I left them," Olivia replied. She shook her head. 'I was just with them! If only we had remained together,' she thought. 'If only Casey had called earlier. If only, if only, if only….'

"All right, we'll head for the school and pick up Lily, first," Elliot said.

Olivia pulled out her cell phone. "I'm gonna call Linda and let her know what's going on."

Elliot nodded as he weaved the car through the New York City traffic. "Good idea."

Olivia speed-dialed Linda's work--she was a receptionist at an uptown insurance company--and got one of her co-workers, a solemn-sounding woman named Lola Manning.

"Yes, this is Detective Olivia Benson," she said. "I'm calling for Linda Beauchamp."

"She's not here," Manning replied. "She had an emergency and had to leave."

"What kind of an emergency?" Olivia asked, startled.

"Her daughter had some kind of an accident at school."

"How long ago was this?" Olivia demanded.

"Uh, she just left a few minutes ago," Manning said, sounding perplexed. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

Olivia hung up on her. "We've got problems," she told Elliot. She relayed everything that Manning said to her partner.

"Not good," Elliot said, as he lit up the cherry--the car's emergency light--and switched on the siren. "This doesn't sound very good at all."

"I'm calling the school," Olivia told him. She was glad she had all of the important people and place in Lily's life on speed-dial. Olivia normally didn't do this with every case; it was just because Lily had made such an impact on her life.

When a school receptionist answered, Olivia gave her name and asked if Lily Beauchamp had been in an accident.

"Why, no," the woman--who sounded elderly--answered. "There's been no accident here. Jane?" she asked someone off the phone. "Has there been an accident with a girl named Lily Beauchamp?"

"The place where her mother works said they got a phone call from you," Olivia told the woman, as a feeling of dread crept up her spine. "The caller asked Linda to come to the school because her daughter was involved in an accident."

"Oh my!" the woman said, sounding shocked. "No, nothing like that has happened here at all!"

"Elliot," Olivia said anxiously, "it's a set up! Drive faster!"

"We're almost there!" he said, grimacing as a taxi tried to cut them off. "Get out of the way, you son of a bitch!"

"Ma'am, listen to me," Olivia said to the woman. "We believe Lily Beauchamp is the target of an attempted kidnapping. Please get her from class and do not let Lily Beauchamp out of your sight. And do not let anybody--including her mother--take her until the police arrive. Do you understand?"

"Oh my God! Oh, yes, yes, of course, Detective Benson!"

"We'll be right there," Olivia assured her. She hung up and then called in the kidnapping attempt on the police radio. Olivia was abruptly jerked to one side of the car as Elliot sharply swerved to avoid hitting a Lexus that tried to pull out in front of them.

"Stupid bastard!" Elliot shouted at the other driver as they drove past. "Can't you hear the damn siren!"

"Just one more block," Olivia said, almost to herself. "Just one more block, now."

"You realize if this really is a kidnapping, then they've already got Linda," Elliot grimly point out.

"But they're not getting Lily," Olivia firmly swore. "Here's the turn!"

Elliot pulled the car off the main avenue and onto the side street where Lily's school was--only to come to a dead stop when a truck that was double parked in the street blocked their way.

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Olivia cried. "I could run faster than this!"

"Then go!" Elliot told her. "I'll meet you there."

Olivia pulled off the seat belt and got out of the car. As she ran past the parked truck, she saw the panicky driver appeared to be having trouble starting it up.

She ran down the street, arriving at the main doors of the school and bounding down the hallway towards the main office. When she entered the main office, Olivia flashed her badge at the women behind the counter. "De-Detective Benson," she said, still out of breath from her run.

A woman with snow white hair stood up from a desk behind the counter. "Yes, Detective Benson. I'm Fiona Proctor. We spoke on the phone."

Olivia glanced around the main office, but could not find Lily. "Where is she?"

"He's bringing Lily down right now," Proctor told her.

"Who?" Olivia asked.

"Harold," Proctor cheerily replied, "one of our security guards. Don't worry, she's in good hands."

'I'll believe that when I see it,' Olivia thought ruefully, as she went back out into the hallway to wait for the security guard. She smiled when she saw the guard escorting Lily around the corner at the far end of the hall. Olivia's smile faded as she watched them both stop as Lily stared at something in surprise off to her right.

And then Lily ran off by herself, her arms out-stretched as if to embrace someone, while the guard merely stood and waved.

"LILY!" Olivia shouted as she ran full-tilt down the hallway. "LILY!"

"Excuse me," the guard said imperviously as she ran up to him. "But is there a problem, Miss?"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Olivia shouted at him. "You were supposed to take her to the main office! Where did she just go!"

"She went with her mother and the police officer," the guard said. He stared at Olivia as if she were insane. "Right out there, see?"

Through the glass of the door, Olivia saw Linda standing with a man outside. And for a brief instant, all appeared well. Olivia figured that the back up that she requested via radio had already arrived.

Until Linda abruptly let out a cry as she tried to run towards the door. The man grabbed her from behind, covering Linda's nose and mouth with a handkerchief as he effortlessly hauled her off.

"Oh, Jesus, no!" Olivia shouted, as she pulled her Glock from its hip holster and ran towards the door.

When she hit the schoolyard, which was framed by stonework, Olivia saw two men running off, each had a prone Linda and Lily in their arms. They were making for a van that was parked on the street just ahead of them. Olivia ran after them and then, once she had a clear shot, stopped and held her Glock out at the men. "POLICE!" she shouted. "FREEZE!"

Just then, a third man, who wore a ski mask over his face, stepped out from behind the van with an Uzi in his hands.

"Freeze this, bitch!" he snarled, just before he sprayed the entire schoolyard with bullets.

"Shit!" Olivia muttered as she ducked behind a low stone wall. She could hear the bullets hitting the masonry on the other side. 'Thank God all the kids were inside and the schoolyard's empty!' she thought.

Sudden movement to her left caught Olivia's attention, and she saw Harold the security guard staring out the window with impossibly wide eyes. "What's going on?" he mouthed to her.

Olivia just frantically waved for him to stay where he was. She was grateful to hear the approaching sirens. Reinforcements were on the way.

"Come on, come on," Ski Mask shouted. "Get moving, now!"

Olivia slowly stood up behind the masonry gate post--which was the tallest part of the stone wall--and snuck a peek from around its corner. When she saw that Ski Mask and his Uzi were gone, she took a chance and stepped put from behind the stonework.

Olivia dropped to one knee, aimed at the legs of the man who carried Linda, and fired.

The man let out a grunt of pain as the nine millimeter bullet struck his thigh--which was just where Olivia had aimed for--knocking him and Linda to the ground.

Olivia drew a bead on the second man who carried Lily towards the van, but her concentration was broken when Ski Mask reappeared with the Uzi. She hurriedly ducked back behind the safety of the wall just as he opened fire once more. Another gunshot ended the flurry of bullets. And Olivia glanced over the fence and saw Ski Mask running for his life. Olivia looked behind her, and saw where the single gun shot came from.

It was from Elliot.

He came running up the street, hunched down behind the parked cars, until he reached Olivia, who had taken cover once more behind the stonework.

"You all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said. "You get him?"

"I aimed right at his chest, and I saw him flinch, so I think I hit him," Elliot said. "But he must be wearing a vest."

"They still got Lily, El!" Olivia was about to go back into the line of fire until Elliot pulled her back.

"They've also got some heavy firepower," he warned her. "Stay down."

"I can't move," a man cried. "She shot me in the leg!"

"Leave him," another man--who sounded like Ski Mask--said.

"We were supposed to grab the broad, too!" a third man said.

A police siren squealed loudly from down the street.

"We're gonna be grabbed if we don't get the fuck out of here right now!" Ski Mask roared at his comrade.

"Don't leave me!" the wounded man cried.

Both Olivia and Elliot risked a look over the stone fence. Linda Beauchamp lay sprawled out on the sidewalk as her would-be kidnapper tried to crawl into the street. The reason he did this because he was frantically trying to catch up with his buddies, who had jumped into the van--with Lily--and were taking off.

This time Olivia pulled her arm away from her partner's protective grasp and run out onto the sidewalk. Pointing her gun at the crawling man, Olivia screamed, "Police! Don't move!"

"Ah, Christ," the man said, as he rolled over on his back and put his hands up. "You got me, lady. Don't shoot!"

Just as the van began to speed away, carrying poor Lily to a horrible fate, a cold stab of fear ripped through Olivia's her body when it occurred to her that she would not be able to reach the van in time. Nor would she even be able to get in a good position to fire at it.

Just then Elliot ran into the street and aimed his Glock at the van. He abruptly pulled the gun up when a woman stepped into the gutter and right in his line of fire.

"Police, get out of the way!" he ordered. He rushed past the woman, but the van was already moving before he could draw a bead again with his gun. Instead Elliot stood and stared intently at the van as it drove off.

'Secure the suspect!' Olivia told herself, forcing herself to stay focused on her own problems. But she couldn't stop thinking about Lily.

"Roll over on your face, and put your hands behind your back!" Olivia ordered the man. When the man did what he was told, she handcuffed his wrists together behind his back. "Don't move!"

"Lady, I couldn't move even if I wanted to," he said with a heavy sigh.

As she ran over to check on Linda, Olivia glanced at Elliot, who stood in the street calling in the van's license plate number on the police radio, and the direction it was last seen headed. Several of the NYPD patrol cars that responded to the scene just kept going right up the street--obviously, they received the alert Elliot had just sent on the van and were now in hot pursuit.

'Jesus, let them find her, please!' Olivia thought, as she knelt down beside the prone Linda. 'Please, let them get to Lily in time!'

"Linda, are you hurt?" Olivia gently asked.

"Olivia?" Linda said, looking dazed. There was a strong odor of chloroform all over her. Her abductor must have used it to try and knock her out. But thanks to the commotion, he didn't have a chance to keep the chloroform on long enough for it to have the full effect. "Olivia, they used me! They used me to get Lily! They made me stand outside and wave to her!"

"It's all right, Linda," Olivia soothed her, as several NYPD police cars pulled up to the scene. "They were armed. You had no choice. It's not your fault."

"Where is she? Where is Lily?" Linda desperately asked. "Is she all right?"

'Oh God,' Olivia thought, as she dreaded having to tell Linda that her little girl had just been abducted.

"Liv!" Elliot called. He stood with his police radio by his ear. "They got them! They found the van a block from here."

"Great," Olivia said, relieved. "You go, El. I've got to stay with--"

"Is Lily in the van?" Linda asked.

"Yes, Linda, she is," Olivia replied.

"Then you go get her, Olivia," Linda said. "I know my baby girl, she'll be very scared. But Lily trusts you, Liv. She'll feel better if you're there. Please, Liv, go get my baby for me!"

"All right, Linda," Olivia promised. "I'll get Lily."

A uniformed officer came over and said, "We'll stay with her."

"Call a bus for her," Olivia told him.

"It's already on the way," he informed her.

Olivia ran down the street with Elliot to their car, which was now parked in front of the school.

They took off with Elliot driving once more. With the cherry flashing and the siren blaring, they weaved in and out of mid-town traffic until they reached an indoor garage. It wasn't hard to find the crime scene; there were half a dozen police cars parked outside.

Olivia clipped her badge onto the lapel of her jacket as she and Elliot strode inside. The van was parked in the empty garage, with all of its doors opened, and about a dozen uniformed officers milling about. Olivia rushed up to the van and frowned when she saw that it was empty. "Where is she?"

"Benson and Stabler, SVU," Elliot said to a uniformed sergeant. "We were the ones who called it in. What you got?"

"The van was already empty when we got here," the sergeant replied. "We just did a search of the building, but there's nobody here."

When a gentle breeze blew on Olivia, she turned to see another garage doorway on the opposite side of the building. Like the doors on the van, it had been left opened. An empty lot led to a side street--which Olivia knew led directly to the West Side Highway. Her heart sank when she grasped that the kidnappers were gone, along with Lily.

'I promised her,' Olivia thought with crushing despair, 'I just promised Linda that I would bring Lily back to her! And now I failed them! I failed them both!'

Elliot stood next to her, also staring out the garage doorway. His eyes grew wide as the realization of what just occurred also hit him.

"They switched cars," Olivia solemnly said. "The fuckers had a second car waiting for them in here!"

"Call CSU," Elliot told the sergeant. "Get them over here ASAP!"

Olivia stared at the side street beyond the empty lot and saw a thriving bodega. 'Maybe somebody there saw the kidnappers leave in the second car,' Olivia thought.

When she started running towards it, Elliot called to her. "What're you doing?"

"Keeping my promise to Linda," Olivia said. "I'm gonna question the people in that bodega and see if they saw the second car pulling out here. Maybe we can get a description."

"Great idea," Elliot said with a nod. "I'll stay here and work the scene."

Olivia was about to leave when Elliot abruptly came over and gave her shoulder a brief, tight squeeze as a sign of support. "We'll find her. You hear me, Liv? We won't rest until we find Lily safe and sound."

"Damn straight," Olivia replied. As she began walking briskly over to the bodega, Olivia thought, 'We will find you, Lily. Even if I have to tear this frigging city apart brick by brick to do it!'

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Charles Beauchamp said. He sat back in the prison conference room chair with a big, smug smile on his face. "I'm very sorry about the abduction of Lily, but I was just as shocked to hear about it as you were."

Casey wasn't a violent woman. In fact, she had seen her fair share of the horrible results of violence in her daily job to never even consider resorting to it--until now. Right at this moment, sitting across from this rat bastard, Casey wanted nothing more than to pick up her suitcase and hit Beauchamp with it. She wanted to keep bashing him in the head with it until she wiped that stinking smug smile right off his face. Yet she kept her calm, as well as her poker face.

"Oh yeah, I can see just how broken up you are over it," Casey said coldly, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"What happened to that poor little girl is terrible," Alexis Norton said, and for once she actually sounded sincere. "But how can you even think that my client had anything to do with--"

"You know full well that since your client is the only one who benefits from these recent events, that makes him the prime suspect," Casey said.

"So where's your evidence?" Norton asked.

Casey merely replied with her own smug smile. Even as they spoke, Hector was working with Neville to track down Beauchamp's little friend Samuel Childs.

'Speaking of which….' Casey thought.

"Mr. Beauchamp, I understand you've had a regular visitor here," Casey said. "A gentleman by the name of Childs?"

"Yes," Beauchamp said. "He's an old friend."

Casey noted that even Norton looked momentarily surprised to hear this. But she quickly recovered and said, "My client is entitled to have visitors. Mr. Childs' visits have nothing to do with you."

"They do if Mr. Beauchamp is using Childs to pass information along to Lily's kidnappers," Casey retorted.

Beauchamp abruptly barked out rancorous laughter. "You're insane," he sneered. "I told you that I have nothing to do with Linda and Lily's abduction."

That last remark got Casey's attention. She never told Beauchamp that Linda was originally going to be abducted as well--until Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler had wrecked the kidnappers' best laid plans. "You mean you had nothing to do with Lily's abduction, don't you?"

For the first time all day, Charles Beauchamp looked uneasy. "Uh, yeah, that's what I meant."

'You son of a bitch,' Casey angrily thought. She leaned forward and said, "If there's anything you have to tell me about Lily's abduction, Mr. Beauchamp, now is that time to say it. And if what you say helps us find Lily, then I will consider leniency for you."

Beauchamp sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling as if Casey was no longer there.

When her cell rang, Casey hoped it was Hector. "Yeah, Novak."

"We got it," Hector told her. "We've found Childs' photo ID and address in the files at the Visitor's Center."

"Thank you, I'll be right there." Casey closed her cell phone and began packing her things away in her briefcase. Yet before she left, Casey paused at the doorway and said, "Last chance, Mr. Beauchamp. If you have any information which could help us find Lily safe and sound, tell me now. Once I walk out this door, all deals are null and void."

Beauchamp continued staring at the ceiling as if he found something fascinating up there. Norton just shook her head and said, "We'll have our day in court, Casey."

Casey left the conference room without another word. She headed over to the Visitor Center's Main Officer, where she found Hector and Neville hunched over one of the TV screens at the main console.

Hector handed her a photocopy of a driver's license. "That's Samuel Childs."  
Casey gazed steadily at the face on the card. He was a beefy-looking man in a dark suit with salt and pepper style hair. While extremely debonair and neat in appearance, Childs still had a very 'rough around the edges' look to him. 'Is he an ex-con?' she wondered.

"I don't suppose he raised any red flags with the warrant office?" Casey asked. All visitors to Rikers Island were given extensive background checks, including having their IDs faxed to a Warrant Office in the Bronx to see if they were wanted on any outstanding warrants. It was surprising how many felons were grabbed this way.

Neville shook his head. "Clean as a whistle."

"Did Beauchamp have any other visitors?" Casey asked. "Other than his lawyer and Childs?"

"No," Neville replied.

Hector consulted his watch. "I really gotta get going, Casey. I wish I could have been more help."

"No problem, Hector, the SVU detectives can take it from here on," Casey told him. "Thanks for all you've done."

"A fat lot of good it'll do that poor girl," Hector said sadly. "I just wish I had gotten that info to you sooner."

"Nonsense, you've been a big help," Casey assured him. "The Manhattan SVU has had plenty of experience in tracking down missing and kidnapped children. I'm sure Don Cragen's got the entire team working at full speed by now."

**Special Victim's Unit**

**16 Precinct**

**Manhattan**

Donald Cragen watched through the glass of the two-way mirror into the interrogation room and let out a heavy sigh of exasperation.

Olivia sat at the table, being grilled by two detectives from the Internal Affairs Bureau. They were questioning her, once again, about when she fired on one of the kidnappers.

"When you shot at that man, didn't you realize you were firing in a schoolyard filled with children?" he said in an accusing tone.

"As I've stated before," Olivia said patiently, "it was in the middle of the school day. The children were all inside. So I had a clear line of fire. Plus, I did not shoot until I was sure I could hit his leg. I was not shooting to kill."

Elliot came in and stood next to Cragen. He glared at the third degree Olivia was getting in the interrogation room. "I thought Liv and I were cleared at the scene," he said angrily.

"You were," Cragen replied. "But there are a lot of worried parents who had children attending that school--one of whom is a city councilmember with connections to City Hall. Hence the microscope that's being held over Olivia right now by the IAB. Right now they're going over Olivia shooting Linda Beauchamp's kidnapper for the second time. Speaking of that kidnapper, did you identify him yet?"

Elliot shook his head. "He clammed up at the hospital. Won't talk without his lawyer present. I took his fingerprints and now I'm waiting for a hit back on them."

"Did CSU find anything useful in the garage where they switched cars?"

"Nah, nothing," Elliot replied. "They couldn't even find any prints on the van that was left behind. These guys were pretty slick, captain."

"Well maybe once we find out who this fellow is in the hospital we can crack this pretty quickly," Cragen said. "I've got Fin and John out right now running down Marcus Sewell."

"All right, Benson," one of the IAB detectives said, "let's take it from the beginning once more, shall we?"  
"Oh for crying out loud!" Cragen said to Elliot. "They've already went over it twice, now!"

"You say you arrived at the school because you were responding to a kidnap attempt on Lily Beauchamp--which was a crime you didn't exactly stop, now, did you, Benson?" the IAB detective said in a snooty manner. "Not much of a cop, are you?"

"Enough of this bullshit," Cragen muttered, as he stepped into the interrogation room. "Excuse me gentlemen, but unless Detective Benson is being charged with something right now, then I'm clearing her to return to work."

One of the IAB detectives, who couldn't have been more than twenty five at most, stood up and said, "Hold on, Cragen--"

"That's Captain Cragen to you, son," he firmly reminded him. "Which is something that the both of you need to remember, because neither of you have the rank to countermand any order I give, unless you're here to arrest somebody. Now, once again, is Detective Benson under arrest?"

When both IAB detectives glanced uneasily at each other, Cragen knew this was nothing more than politics. Somebody within the department who either had a beef with the SVU, or was simply trying to make a name for himself with his superiors, called these IAB mutts down here to breathe down Olivia's neck and see what dirt they could dig up.

"Liv," Cragen gently said, "get back to work."

Although Olivia didn't say anything, the look of relief on her face was obvious as she got up from the desk and left the room.

"Our investigation is not over," one of the IAB detectives told Cragen.

"And neither is mine," Cragen replied. "I'm trying to find a little girl who has just been kidnapped a few hours ago, and I need every one of my best detectives on the case--including Olivia Benson, who is one of the very best in my squad. And until the day comes when you two clowns actually decide to do some real police work, you have no right to make any snippy comments on her actions as a cop. You understand me?"

Cragen turned his back on them and strode out to the squad room, where Elliot stood talking with Olivia at his desk.

"Elliot tells me you had no joy with the bodega that was across the street from the garage," Cragen said to Olivia.

Olivia grimly shook her head. "Nobody saw a thing."

"Rats leaving the building!" someone in the squad room announced, as the two IAB detectives morosely walked out of the squad room. Every cop in the room stopped what they were doing and glared at the IAB men until they left.

"You hear back on those fingerprints from the kidnapper, yet?" Olivia asked Elliot.

"No, still waiting."

"Did you tell them it was an emergency?" Olivia said. "A little girl's life is at stake here."

"I did. I told them it was a rush job for the Lily Beauchamp kidnapping case. But we're still waiting."

"I'll give them a call," Cragen said as he walked to his office. "See if I can't give them a little nudge."

"I hope Casey is having better luck," Elliot muttered.

**District Attorney's Office**

**Manhattan**

"Yeah, all right, thanks," Casey said with a heavy sigh, just before she hung up the phone.

'Nada, zilch!' she thought dismally. Casey had asked for another check on Beauchamp's financial records, and had just discovered the man was flat broke. What little money he had left were tied up in paying Norton's lawyer fees, which were what drained his accounts to begin with.

'So if Beauchamp is behind this whole scheme, then how is he funding it?' Casey wondered, as she left her office to get more paper for her printer.

When she entered the supply room, Casey was startled to see Kelly standing there, quickly wiping her face with a tissue. "I, um, had something in my eye," she said feebly, as she brushed past Casey on her way out the door. Despite her lame explanation, it was obvious that she had been crying.

'All right, that's enough,' Casey thought with a shake of her head.

"Kelly," she called to the woman. "Would you come with me, please?"

Kelly opened her mouth, as if to protest, but then thought better of it and resignedly followed Casey into her office. Once they were inside, Casey closed the door for privacy and gestured for Kelly to grab a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Casey sat in the chair next to her and gently said, "What's going on, Kelly?"

Kelly bit her lower lip, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but here right now. "I'm fine, Casey, really."

"No, you're not," Casey said firmly. "You're not in the habit of bursting into tears at the drop of a hat. Look, if it's really personal--then, fine, tell me to mind my own business. But I wouldn't be much of a friend if I ignored what are pretty obvious signs that you're in a great deal of pain."

Kelly's response to that was to promptly break down and cry.

Casey stared at her, dumbfounded, for a moment. Then she got up and retrieved a box of tissues from her desk and gave them to Kelly.

"Hey, hey, easy," Casey said soothingly. "Whatever it is, Kelly, you can--"

"He left me," Kelly blurted out in-between her sobs.

Casey shook her head sympathetically. Kelly had been dating some Wall Street hotshot over the past few months, and it looked like this guy might really have been the one for her--at least until now. "You guys broke up?"

"No, he left me!" Kelly cried. "I came home last night and he was gone! All of his stuff was gone! At first I thought he had disappeared, until I called him, and he just said, 'Oh yeah, sorry baby, but it wasn't working out. Have a nice life'!"

"Oh my God," Casey said, stunned. "That rat bastard!"

Kelly gave her a look of disbelief. "You believe that? The relationship wasn't working out for him, so he just ups and leaves me without even saying a word!" She let out a heavy sigh. Her crying jag appeared to be over. "I've got to get back to work. Tracey's probably wondering where I am right now."

"Ok. Look, I know this really sucks," Casey said, as they both got up. "But maybe this is just as well. At least you've found out that he's a selfish pig and you're rid of him in one fell swoop."

"Yeah, but it still hurts," Kelly said sadly. She turned and walked to the door. Then she abruptly paused and added, "Hey, Casey? Thanks."

"Anytime," Casey replied. "I'd ask if you'd want to have a drink later, but I may be working very late tonight."

"You're working the Lily Beauchamp case," Kelly said, as she nodded in understanding. "Listen, you need any help with that, you know where to find me."

Casey watched as Kelly walked out of her office. She slowly shook her head at how horribly that sweet woman had been treated by her boar of a boyfriend. The thought of Elliot just leaving her high and dry was just incomprehensible. He would never do anything like that. If there was ever a problem between them, Elliot would tell her. He would. He would tell her.

'He would tell me, wouldn't he?' Casey anxiously wondered.

**East 34th Street**

**Yonkers, New York**

'Where is she?' Munch thought, as he sat in the car.

They traced Marcus Sewell to this address that he had left at Rikers. It was the home of his aunt, Gayle Sewell--only nobody was home right now. When Fin checked with a neighbor, she told him that Gayle was out at the store and would be back very shortly.

Munch glanced at his watch. That was almost an hour ago. 'What's Gayle doing,' he wondered, 'stocking up on food in preparation for the apocalypse?'

Fin was out getting coffee and sandwiches from the restaurant on the corner, so all Munch could do was sit in the car and sulk. What was really frustrating about this situation was that Marcus Sewell had served his entire sentence for armed robbery, which meant that when he was released from prison, he was truly free to go wherever he pleased. And if he was in fact involved in Lily Beauchamp's kidnapping, then Sewell could be anywhere in the country--or even out of it--by now.

When his cell rang, Munch hoped it was somebody from the one six with some good news. "Munch."

"Howdy!" a female voice said cheerily.

Munch broke into a smile. The caller wasn't from the one six, but her voice was just as welcome nevertheless. "Hey, Alex."

"What's wrong?" Alexandra Eames said, concerned. "You sound a little down."

"Have you heard about the Lily Beauchamp kidnapping case in mid-town earlier today?" Munch asked.

"Yeah, we got the Amber Alert on that," Alex replied. She worked as a detective with the NYPD's Major Case Squad. She and Munch first got together when their respective squads worked jointly on the Edward Lister assassination case a year ago, and they had been steadily dating ever since.

"Yeah, well yours truly is presently on a stake out for a sweet little old lady who may be connected with that case."

There was a pause on Alex's side. "You think the little old lady kidnapped the kid?"

"Yeah, she's really Ma Barker," Munch said with a chuckle. "No, actually, the sweet little old lady's an aunt of a suspect whom we believe might have been involved with the kidnapping."

"Oh. Well, I'm working a scene right now with Bobby, and I just called to let you know that I might be late tonight--real late, in fact. It sucks, 'cause I haven't seen you in a while, now, Johnny."

Munch could almost hear the poutiness in her voice. "I may be burning the midnight oil, as well tonight," he replied. "So, if you want, stop by the one six later. It doesn't matter how late."

"That sounds good," she said. "Uh-oh, I gotta go; Bobby's making those gestures at me right now."

"What kind of gestures?" Munch asked.

"The kind that means we're gonna be working all night," Alex said with a sigh. "Talk to you later, love."

"Talk to you then, take care."

"You too."

Fin came back with the coffee and sandwiches just as Munch closed his cell phone. "Was that Eames?" he asked as he got in the car. When Munch nodded, he added, "You give her my love?"

"No," Munch flatly replied.

Fin shot him a hurt look. "Why not?"

"Because you're not the one who's dating her, are you?"

"You really get cranky when you're hungry, don't you, John?" Fin took out his sandwich and coffee and then handed Munch the bag.

Munch removed the sandwich and cup of coffee and placed them on top of the dashboard. Then he upended the bag and shook it so that the bags of sugar could fall out--only there were no bags of sugar. Munch peered into the bag and confirmed that it was, indeed, empty.

"Where's the sugar?" Munch asked.

"Didn't get it," Fin said after a sip of his coffee.

"Since when did this habit start?"

"Since I heard it wasn't good for ya," Fin replied.

"What are you, my mother?"

"No," Fin said. "Thank God!"

Munch glared at him. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're such a major pain in the ass now, that I can't imagine what it must have been like for your poor, suffering mother," Fin replied. "She should be made a saint for putting up with your cranky, bony ass. Same goes for Eames, too. Don't know what she sees in you, man, but Eames is a real special woman for looking past your faults."  
Munch thought long and hard about what Fin just said. "You know, I can't really argue with that," he admitted. "In fact, I actually agree with you."

"There, see?" Fin said after a bite of his sandwich. "At last you acknowledge my vast wisdom."

"Well, no, I wouldn't go that far!" Munch shot back. He did a double take when an elderly woman came walking down the street, pulling a cart filled with groceries. "Hold it, is this Aunt Gayle?"

"Let's find out," Fin said, as he put the sandwich down and got out of the car.

"Ms. Sewell?" Munch asked, as they approached the woman.

The old woman stared at them warily. "Yes?"

"We're detectives," Fin said, as he and Munch held out their badges for her to see. "NYPD. We're looking for your nephew, Marcus."

"Oh lord, what sort of trouble has he gotten himself into this time?" Gayle Sewell said. She had the weary air of a woman who had faced a great deal of disappointment in her life. "He just got out of jail a few days ago!"  
"We just want to talk with him, ma'am, that's all," Munch said. Technically, that was the truth. But what Munch left out was the fact that he and Fin would be speaking with Marcus Sewell down at the stationhouse.

"I don't know where he might be," Gayle Sewell said, frowning. "He came home from prison a few days ago, and then he just upped and left. Told me he was going to celebrate his release."

"When did he come back?" Fin asked.

"Never did," she replied. "Haven't seen or heard from him since."

Munch exchanged a suspicious look with Fin. Obviously Sewell had joined the crew that kidnapped Lily Beauchamp. 'If we can just get inside the house,' Munch thought. 'We might find something that tells us the whereabouts of Marcus. But we don't have a search warrant.'

When he glanced at the cart filled with groceries, Munch got an idea. "That looks very heavy. Could we help you with it, ma'am?"

"I would sure appreciate it!" she said.

Munch escorted the old woman up the stoop of her house while Fin grabbed the cart and pulled it up behind them. "And so you have no idea where Marcus is right now?" Munch asked.

"No, I don't," Gayle admitted, as she opened the front door with her keys. "But if you find him, I would sure like to know so I could give him a piece of my mind!"

"Oh, we will," Munch said, as he stepped aside in the foyer to let Fin pull the cart into the house.

"Where do you want this, ma'am?" Fin asked.

"Oh, just wheel it into the kitchen," she told him. "I'll unload it later."

"It's really a shame how Marcus just took off like that," Munch told her.

"He just walked in, threw his stuff into his bedroom, and then told me he was going out," Gayle Sewell said, in a shocked tone of voice. "He even told me that he would be late, but I never knew Marcus would be several days late! Go up and see his bedroom, and you'll see what I mean!"

"Really!" Munch said, trying to sound as shocked as she was. "Is his bedroom right up these stairs?"

"Up the stairs, and to your left," she directed. "Go and see! Everything is still just how he left it a few days ago! It's a disgrace, I tell you!"

"It is, indeed," Munch said sympathetically. "Fin, let's go take a look at Marcus' room, shall we?"

Fin stood behind the old woman with a knowing smile on his face. Although they had no search warrant, Munch had deftly managed to circumvent that fact by getting permission from Gayle, the owner of the house, to go into Marcus Sewell's room. Their investigation was still on track.

"Can I get you boys something?" Gayle asked as they went up the steps. "Some tea, perhaps?"

"Oh no, ma'am," Fin replied. "Don't go through any trouble on our account."

"It's no trouble," she called after them. "I just wish my nephew was as nice as you two young men!"

"Young men?" Munch said as they entered Marcus' room. "It's been a while since anybody called me young."

"Damn," Fin muttered in frustration, as he glanced around the bedroom. "Doesn't look like there's much here, John."

Munch put on a pair of latex gloves and then opened the top drawer of a dresser. It was empty. "She was right, Marcus really didn't stay long, did he?"

"And looks like he took all his shit with him, too," Fin said, as he gazed into an empty closet. "You know, I don't think…."

Munch had peered into a wastepaper basket--which turned out to be empty-- when Fin abruptly stopped speaking. "You don't think--what?"

Fin stood before the only window in the room, staring outside. "John, get over here."

"What is it?"

"Just get over here and look at this, man!"

Munch walked over and gazed out the window, which overlooked a dead end street that appeared to have been used as a garbage dump. He really didn't see anything out of the ordinary--until he saw a pair of legs sticking out from under a mattress. "Oh, crud…."

They bounded down the steps and were out the door in under a minute. Munch thought he heard Gayle calling after them, but he didn't want to stop and explain to her that they were on their way to examine a dead body right now.

They walked up the side street, which was blocked off at one end by an old dilapidated building, until they came to the pair of legs that stuck out from under the mattress. When Fin began to lift the mattress off the body, Munch had this crazy image of seeing the sprawled out body of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard Of Oz, which had been flattened by Dorothy's house.

Instead, they found a dead African-American man who lay with his eyes shut. It almost looked as if he were sleeping--were it not for the gaping bullet hole in the side of his head.

"Don't tell me that's--" Munch started to say.

"It is," Fin said with a sigh, as he held a picture of Marcus Sewell next to the body. "It's Marcus, all right."

"Found dead on a dead end street," Munch commented. "Now that's irony."

"You could also say the same for our investigation," Fin said dourly. "It's come straight to a dead end!"

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you? Heheheheheh! _

_Seriously, I've been working under some crushing deadlines lately, so I haven't hadas much time as I would have liked to work on this. But rest assured it will be finished. _

_I would like to thank those who were kind enough to write reviews. As always, they're much appreciated. _

"Yeah, got it," Elliot said into the phone. "Thanks a lot."

He got up and walked over to Cragen's office. Although the door was open, Elliot still knocked on the doorframe.

"Come in," Cragen called.

The captain sat at his desk as Elliot strode into the office. "Got a hit on our would-be kidnapper, Captain," he said. "He's Eugene Foreman, an ex-con who did time for armed robbery, and kidnapping."

"Was the kidnapping related to the robbery?" Cragen asked.

Elliot nodded as he consulted the fax. "Seems the robbery went bust, so our boy abducted a bank teller and used her as a hostage. Didn't kill her. Turned her loose on the highway, before he was finally stopped in Pennsylvania by the State Police. He did twenty years in Attica, before he got out on good behavior."

"Too bad he didn't keep behaving himself after he got out," Cragen commented. "I just got off the horn with the FDNY. They've revised their verdict on the fire we've had. It's now arson."

"No shit?" Elliot asked, stunned.

"No shit," Cragen said.

Casey appeared at the doorway and shook her head in exasperation. "Why is it every office I step into today there's somebody in it who's literally talking shit?"

"Bad day, Casey?" Cragen jokingly asked, as she entered and placed a file on his desk.

"You could say it's been a shitty day," she said, sardonically. "I rechecked Beauchamp's financials, and he's still broke, so he can't be funding any of this. But we finally got a break on another front." Casey tapped the file that she placed on Cragen's desk. "That's all the information you need on Samuel Childs, the man who has been a frequent visitor to Beauchamp at Rikers Island…including his address."

"Fantastic," Cragen said, as he handed the file to Elliot. "You and Olivia can take this one."

"What about Foreman?" Elliot asked.

"He's not going anywhere," Cragen replied. "It'll do him some good to simmer under guard in the hospital for a little while longer. Besides, if this Childs is in fact Beauchamp's contact for the hit, then I want you to run him down A.S.A.P. "

"Who's Foreman?" Casey asked.

"The would-be kidnapper who Olivia shot," Elliot replied. "We got a hit back on his fingerprints. He served 20 in Attica for robbery and kidnapping."

"Nice guy," Casey said. "Did I hear you two talking about arson before I just entered?"

"The FDNY arson squad discovered that the electrical outlet that caused the fire in the evidence room had in fact been rigged with a special device," Cragen told her. "So, it is indeed arson. Wasn't Munch talking about arsonist theories before? He'll have a field day when he hears about this!"  
"You know, for once, I think John might be entitled to his conspiracy theories," Casey said. "Because this entire day is turning out to be filled with way too many coincidences for my taste."

"Like the fact that our evidence room goes up in smoke, destroying the Beauchamp tapes," Elliot said, "and just a few hours later, somebody makes a grab for Linda and Lily Beauchamp?"

"And all of this occurs just a few days before I'm due to try Beauchamp in court," Casey added. "There's obviously a deliberate attempt here to take all of my evidence--even my two main witnesses--away from me before the Beauchamp trial even begins!"

"Will you ask the judge to delay the trial?" Cragen asked.

"I'm considering it," Casey said wearily. "But since we've got a couple of days before the trial starts, I want to hold off before I take that option." She shook her head in disgust. "You know, when I spoke with Beauchamp earlier, he all but let it slip that he was involved in this."

"Really?" Elliot said. "What did he say?"

"He said he had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Lily and Linda," Casey told them. "But the thing is, I only mentioned that Lily was abducted, I never said anything about Linda almost being kidnapped as well. When I confronted him about it, Beauchamp looked shaken, like I caught him in a lie."

"That son of a bitch," Elliot said softly, as he and Cragen exchanged a knowing look. "We really gotta nail that bastard to the wall."

"Start with finding Childs," Cragen said.

"We're on it, Cap," Elliot said as he started walking out the office.

"Good hunting," Casey said morosely.

Elliot paused to give the woman he loved a perplexed look. The last time anyone said 'good hunting' to him was back in the Marines, when he and his squad were going out on a recon patrol in the Iraqi desert during Desert Storm.

'Something's eating her,' Elliot realized, as he noted how she stood in the office gazing solemnly at the floor.

"Casey, can I speak with you for a minute?" Elliot said.

"Yeah, sure," Casey said, snapping herself out of her funk. "Be right back, Don."

When they stepped out into the squad room, Elliot tossed the Samuel Childs folder onto Olivia's desk. "We've got Samuel Childs' address, Liv," he said. "Why don't we go pay him a visit?"

"By all means," Olivia said, as she jumped up from her desk and eagerly got her coat.

Before Elliot did the same, he turned to Casey and whispered, "You all right?"

"Yeah," she said--a too quickly for Elliot's taste. Then Casey discreetly nodded at Olivia and added, "How's she taking this?"

"Badly," Elliot answered. "Which is to be expected, seeing how close she is with Lily."

"Lily," Casey said, her voice almost a sob. "Oh, Christ, Elliot, I hope she's all right. I hope she's not…." Unable to say what she dreaded the most, Casey shook her head, as her eyes welled up with tears. "Just find her, all right?"

Elliot affectionately squeezed her shoulder. "We will. I swear. Don't you dare give up on her, you hear me?"

Casey nodded as she squeezed his hand in return.

"You ready, El?" Olivia called. She stood with her coat on, waiting impatiently by the door of the squad room.

"Yep. Let's go meet Mr. Childs," Elliot said, as he threw his coat on and walked through the doorway with his partner.

"Is Casey all right?" Olivia asked.

"It's been a rough day," Elliot replied, "for all of us."

"Ain't that the frigging truth," Olivia muttered.

The address for Samuel Childs was located on the West Side of Manhattan, in an area that was better known as 'Hell's Kitchen'. Childs' address was located in what must have been one of the last rental apartment buildings in the area.

Elliot pressed the button for Childs' apartment repeatedly, yet there was no answer. "Not home, I guess."

"Abducting little girls must be a pretty hectic schedule," Olivia said sourly.

A man dressed in worker's overalls came up from beneath the steps that Elliot and Olivia stood on. He gave the detectives a curious glance. "You guys here to see somebody in the building?"

"Yeah," Elliot replied, holding up his shield. "I'm Elliot Stabler, she's Olivia Benson. We're NYPD. We're looking for a Mr. Samuel Childs."

"He lives here," the man said. "But he's rarely home. I'm Denny Regalia, the maintenance man."

"Hey Denny," Olivia said by way of greeting. "Would you know when Mr. Childs will be back?"

"Don't know," Denny said with a frown. "That's the problem with Mr. Childs, he's never really around here much."

"Has he been any trouble?" Elliot asked.

"On the contrary, he's been anything but trouble. He always pays the rent on time, and is never noisy. But it's just…." Denny shook his head again, as if not sure he should say what he wanted to say. "Well, about a week ago, there was a burst pipe in his apartment, it was causing some extensive flooding damage, and so I go in and fix it. And once in there I notice that there's no bed in the bedroom! And the kitchen, there's a fine layer of dust on the counters, you know? There's nobody living there at all. I mean, why's he paying the rent on a place where he's not staying?"

"Could he still be in the process of moving in?" Olivia asked.

"He's been a resident here for just over a year, now," Denny said. "How long does it take a guy to move into a place? I gotta say, it's been making me pretty suspicious already. And now you guys want to talk to him. Can I ask why?"

"We're investigating the kidnapping this afternoon of Lily Beauchamp," Elliot said. "And there are just some questions we'd like to ask Mr. Childs, that's all."

"Aw, man," Denny said with a sad shake of his head. "I've been hearing about that on the radio all day. What a shame!" He did a double-take when he glanced at Olivia. "Wait, didn't you say your name was Benson? Oh yeah! They were talking about you, the lady cop named Benson who traded gunfire with the kidnappers! You know they're calling you Dirty Harriet? You rock really hard, Benson!"

Olivia gazed uneasily at the ground. "Yeah, well, if I were half as good as they say, then Lily wouldn't have been abducted at all. You think you could you show us inside Childs' apartment?"

"Yeah," Denny said happily, "sure thing!"

Elliot grabbed her arm. "Whoa, Liv, hold on! We were just supposed to talk to him, remember? We don't have a search warrant for his place."

"What if Childs' is holding Lily captive inside?" Olivia harshly asked. "What if she's tied up in there right now?"

"Oh man…." Denny whispered, looking horrified.

"Believe me, I want to look the place over as much as you do," Elliot calmly told her. "But we've got to be careful how we get in there, or any evidence we find will be thrown out of court. You know that."

"How are the pipes holding up in Childs' apartment?" Olivia abruptly asked Denny. "Is that repair job holding up all right?"

He gave her an odd look. "Uh, well, I've been meaning to check up on the repair work, but I didn't get the chance yet."

"Don't let us stop you, Denny!" Olivia cheerfully said. "You go right ahead and check the pipes in Childs' apartment. Oh, by the way, is it ok if my partner and I wait for Childs inside the building?"

"Sure!" Denny said. "C'mon inside!"

Elliot nodded when he realized what she was doing: arranging in a roundabout way so that they could search Childs' apartment. They could reasonably enter Childs' premises if the apartment door was left open by Denny while he was working inside.

As they stepped inside the lobby, Elliot whispered into Olivia's ear: "Way to go…Dirty Harriet."

Olivia just shot him an outraged look over her shoulder that said, 'I'll get you for that, Stabler!'

But Elliot didn't care; whatever retribution Olivia sought against him in the future was well worth the look on her face right now.

Denny walked down the hallway on the first floor and knocked loudly on a door to their right. "Super!" he called, as he opened the door. "I'm checking the repair work on the pipes, Mr. Childs! Mr. Childs?"  
Now that they had their legal excuse to enter, Elliot grabbed Denny and pulled him away from the door as he and Olivia removed their guns from their holsters. Holding his Glock out in front of him, Elliot entered the apartment first, with Olivia close behind.

It was a small apartment, with just a single bedroom, living room and a kitchen. It didn't take them long to search the place, and while they didn't find Lily, they also didn't find anything else--there was no sign of life in the apartment, save for a few packages that were by the door; they were from Amazon dot com.

"LILY!" Olivia shouted. "Lily, it's Olivia! If you're here, let me know, honey!"

Elliot held his breath as he opened a closet door in the hallway of the apartment. He released the breath as a sigh of relief when he saw there was no little girl bound and gagged--or worse, dead--inside. The closet was just as empty as the rest of the apartment. Elliot quickly saw why Denny had been so suspicious of its tenant: the apartment was just as barren and lifeless as he said. There was even a layer of dust on the kitchen counter top.

"Nobody in the bedroom," Olivia reported, as she joined him in the kitchen. "No bed, either."

"This place is just a mail drop," he told Olivia as they re-holstered their guns. "It's an address for Childs to use when he visits Beauchamp in jail."

Olivia excused herself when her cell phone rang. "Yeah, Benson."

'This plan has been well-thought out,' Elliot thought, as he slowly gazed around the apartment. 'And it's very well funded. But Beauchamp's flat broke, and his family has disowned him; so if Beauchamp isn't financing this little operation, then who is? Is this Childs guy really behind all of this, and if so, why? Who is he to Beauchamp? Just a friend? Or something more?'

"That was Cragen," Olivia said, as she shut off her cell. "He heard back from Munch and Fin. They found Marcus Sewell, dead. He was shot execution-style in the head." She dismally shook her head. "Another lead shot to hell…."

Elliot nodded, but not in agreement with Olivia. "Yeah, of course, it makes perfect sense," he said quietly.

Olivia stared at him as if he were crazy. "What?"

"Think about it, Liv," Elliot said, "how did we find out that Lily was in danger?"

"From Hector," she said, puzzled.

"And how did Hector find out?"

"Because Marcus Sewell was…" Olivia paused when it hit her. "Oh course, Sewell was bragging about this job just before he got out of prison!"

"And nobody likes a guy who runs his mouth," Elliot said, "especially a bunch of criminals who are about to pull a job."

"That's why Sewell was killed," Olivia said. "His bragging was putting this whole thing in jeopardy. If we can match the bullet that killed Sewell to Foreman's gun, then we might have something else to dangle over him. To force him to tell us where Lily--"

Denny stuck his head into the apartment and yelled, "Hey, it's Childs! He's coming!"

Elliot and Olivia ran into the hallway, where they saw a man clad in a business suit walking up to the apartment door. He had started asking Denny what was going on, but stopped when he saw Elliot and Olivia.

"Who are you?" he nervously asked.

The man didn't look anything like the photo ID they got from Rikers. The Samuel Childs in the picture was a big, burly guy, while this fellow was short and lean--with his round, gold glasses giving him a meek, owl-like appearance.

Elliot and Olivia flashed him their detective shields. "Benson and Stabler, NYPD," Elliot said, as he and Olivia stepped out from the apartment. He turned to Denny and asked, "Is this Samuel Childs?"

"Yeah," Denny said. "That's him."

Elliot exchanged a brief puzzled look with Olivia. There was something strange going on here.

The man's dark brown eyes grew wide with alarm behind his glasses. "Why do you want to know?"

"We're investigating the kidnapping of Lily Beauchamp," Olivia said.

"Are you Samuel Childs?"

In response, the man just turned around and started running down the hallway.

Elliot, who just knew that this moron was going to try and make a break for it, broke into a mad dash right behind him. He grabbed the man by the back of his collar with both hands and flung him right into the wall.

"Don't hurt me!" the man screeched. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Keep your hands where I can see them and shut up!" Elliot snarled. He patted the man down, but he had no weapons. Then he produced his handcuffs and used them to secure the man's wrists behind his back as Olivia read him his rights.

When Olivia was finished reading him his Miranda Rights, Elliot spun the man around and said, "Why did you run?"

"I'm not Childs!" the man frantically said. "I'm not Samuel Childs!"

"He's lying!" Denny said. "He is Childs!"

"You sure?" Olivia asked him.

"Sure I am!" Denny insisted. "He pays the rent every month with a check signed with his name: Samuel Childs."

"I don't know what he's talking about!" Childs cried.

Elliot grabbed Childs by the arm and began to haul him towards the front door. "All right, come on. We'll settle this at the precinct. We'll also have a nice little talk about the whereabouts of Lily Beauchamp."

"Oh, jeez," the man who pretended to be Childs moaned. "The dragon lady won't be happy to hear about this!"

**To Be Continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

"I ain't got nothing to say to you pigs," Eugene Foreman growled from his hospital bed.

Fin broke into a smile. "Oh ho! Get this dude, John," he said to Munch as they strode into the hospital room. "No sooner do we walk through the door then he's already putting on a tough guy act!"

"And we haven't even identified ourselves yet," Munch said, as he pulled out his badge. "Let's make it official, shall we? I'm Detective Munch, and this is Detective Tutuola, NYPD."

"Piss off," Foreman snarled. "I knew you were cops because I can smell a stinking pig from a mile away."

"Looks like somebody's been watching too many Jimmy Cagney movies," Munch said. "Are you a fan of Cagney, Mr. Foreman?"

When Foreman abruptly appeared startled, Fin gave him a knowing smile. "Yeah, that's right, tough guy," he said. "We know who you are, now."

"Eugene Foreman," Munch read aloud from a file he held in his hands. "Did time in Attica for armed robbery and kidnapping. Eugene must really enjoy kidnapping, Fin, because he just went ahead and did it again earlier today."

"I ain't saying nothing!" Foreman insisted.

"You don't have to," Fin told him. "'cause we got witnesses, plus footage from the school surveillance cameras showing you in an attempted abduction of Linda Beauchamp."

"You should have worn a ski mask like your little friend with the Uzi, Eugene," Munch said. "What's his name, by the way?"

"Eat me!"

"'Eat me'?" Munch said thoughtfully. "Hmmm, that's an unusual name. It must have been hell for him in school."

"Parents probably hated him," Fin said dryly.

"We've got nothing further to say here," Foreman told them.

"Wrong!" Fin angrily shot back. "You've got plenty to say, if you know what's best for you. Your friends abducted a little girl by the name of Lily Beauchamp. We want to know where she is right now."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Foreman said, as he laid back and stared up at the ceiling.

Fin leaned close and said, "Maybe Marcus Sewell knew what we're talking about…or, I should say, the _late_ Marcus Sewell. Maybe he knew too much. Was that why he was killed?"

"Get lost!"

"It would really behoove you to help us, Mr. Foreman," Munch warned. "Because the gun you had in your possession is now being tested to see if it matched the bullet that killed Sewell. So if you wish to tell us anything now, such as the location of Lily Beauchamp, we will consider leniency. But if anything happens to Lily, and it turns out that you could have helped--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Foreman said with a slight smile. "Tell it to my lawyer."

"If that's how you want it to go, tough guy, fine," Fin said. "But you're looking at a lot of hard time here. Any help we get in finding this girl will make things go easy for you on the inside. Maybe even reduce your time, y'know what I mean?"

"I ain't no stranger to hard time, boys." Foreman actually broke into a chuckle. "Man, that bitch really knew what she was doing, didn't she?"

Both Munch and Fin exchanged a wide-eyed glance.

"What?" Fin asked. "What bitch?"

"To whom are you referring to, Mr. Foreman?" Munch asked.

"I have nothing further to say to you pigs," Foreman firmly replied. "Not without my lawyer present."

'You nearly gave it all away just now,' Fin thought, 'didn't you? You son of a bitch!' He shook his head in disgust at the realization that they would not be getting anymore information from Foreman. He was a hard core lifer who was willing to do the time no matter what.

When he glanced at his partner, Munch made a subtle gesture for the both of them to leave. Once they were in the hospital hallway, Fin went over what Foreman said in his mind. "Who the hell you think he meant?"

"I can't help but wonder this 'bitch' is the mastermind behind all of this," Munch said.

"I thought Beauchamp was behind this--or at least that guy who he's meeting at Rikers," Fin said. "What's his name? Childs."

"The layers of deception are slowly being peeled away, my friend," Munch said melodramatically. "Sort of like an onion."

"Uh, yeah, right," Fin said with a shake of his head. Fin was about to ask what did onions have to do with deception, but thought the better of it.

**Special Victim's Unit**

**Interrogation Room**

**16 Precinct**

The man whom Olivia and Elliot had brought in for questioning turned out to be Gregory Dayton. He claimed that everything was just a big mistake, that he was merely performing a job that he was being well-paid for.

"Paying the rent and collecting the mail for an apartment that nobody uses?" Olivia asked. "That's a pretty strange job, Mr. Dayton."

"It pays the bills," Dayton said with a shrug.

While Olivia and Dayton sat facing each other at the table, Elliot had been pacing back and forth in the room like a panther. He had decided to play the 'bad cop' and Olivia gladly followed his lead. To that end, Elliot abruptly slammed his hands on the table in front of Dayton and asked, "Who hired you?"

"The Friends Of Justice," Dayton said without batting an eye.

Olivia frowned at Dayton. "Is that some sort of organization?"

"They're an advocacy group that's fighting for the rights of convicts," Dayton said. "You know, making sure they're being treated decently, getting them lawyers, that kind of stuff."

"In our line of work we come across plenty of advocacy groups," Elliot said. "How come we've never heard of yours?"

Dayton shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe because they only take extra special cases."

"Like Charles Beauchamp?" Elliot asked. "Is Beauchamp one of their special cases?"

Dayton shook his head. "Beats me. They don't tell me that kind of stuff. Look, I'm basically just an outside contractor, ok? I don't ask questions, I just do whatever it is they tell me to do."

"Like pretend to be Samuel Childs?" Olivia asked.

"No, I told you, I never said I was Childs. I just paid the rent and picked up the mail every now and then. It's not my fault if the superintendent mistakes me for the guy. "

"You handed the super a check from Childs every month," Olivia said. "He thought you were Childs."

"He was wrong," Dayton quickly interjected. "And as I've said before, that's not my check. I just deliver it."

"Fine," Olivia said. "So who gives you the check each month?"

"Is it the dragon lady?" Elliot wanted to know.

Dayton looked mortified. "Please don't tell her I called her that."

Growing tired of this timid little bastard, Olivia folded her arms, leaned forward in her seat and said, "Don't tell who, Mr. Dayton?"

"Claire Stephenson," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "She's in charge of the Friends Of Justice. She founded it and runs it."

"And is she really a dragon lady?" Olivia asked.

Before Dayton could reply, the door flew open and high powered attorney Trevor Langan entered the room with a scowl on his face. "Don't say anything further, Greg!"

Cragen entered right after the lawyer, holding his hands up in a 'what are you going to do' gesture. Olivia didn't recall Dayton calling for a lawyer, much less a big gun like Langan, and yet here he was.

'I wonder if Langan's here courtesy of Claire Stephenson,' Olivia thought, feeling her cop radar go to full alert. 'And if this is how she reacts to us questioning one of her lowly minions, then how deep is she in this little scheme?'

"Why is my client is here?" Langan said, looking annoyed.

"We're investigating the kidnapping of Lily Beauchamp, and we're just asking him some questions," Elliot replied with a casual air. He turned to Dayton and added, "You must be getting paid pretty well to be able to afford Mr. Langan's services."

Cragen glanced at Olivia and said, "Linda Beauchamp is waiting for you at your desk."

'Oh God no,' Olivia thought, stunned. Olivia had hoped that when she finally saw Linda, she would have good news for her. But she didn't want to face Linda now, not while she was still trying to find Lilly. Olivia had nothing to offer her.

When she glanced up to see Cragen staring at her expectantly, Olivia realized that she had been sitting hesitantly at the table all the time. Giving Cragen a sheepish smile, she got up and left the interrogation room, wondering what in God's name was she going to say to Linda.

'I let her and Lilly down in such a major way,' Olivia thought with a shake of her head. She had gone over the events in the schoolyard over and over in her mind all day, trying to figure out what she could have done differently, how she could have prevented Lilly from being abducted. Yet the one thing that Olivia knew for sure was that Lilly's abduction was entirely her fault. She was strictly to blame and had accepted that fact willingly.

When Olivia stepped into the squad room, she saw Linda was seated at her desk; George Huang was with her, leaning against the desk, deep in conversation with her.

Olivia was almost tempted to duck out of the room before they could see her. But that was the coward's route, and if nothing else, Olivia Benson was no coward.

Linda quickly stood up and faced her as Olivia strode up to them. Olivia braced herself for the heated accusations--which, from Linda, would be completely justified.

But Linda merely stood there, staring sadly at her.

"Linda, I-I'm so sorry," Olivia finally said, her voice breaking. "I-I should never have--"

Before she could continue, Linda Beauchamp stunned Olivia by doing something that was totally unexpected.

She reached out and gave Olivia a tight hug.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Olivia," Linda whispered as they embraced. "We both lost her, you and I. But hopefully--through the grace of God--we will get Lilly back safe and sound again."

'Oh Christ!' Olivia thought, as the tears welled up in her eyes. The last thing she had expected to do was cry, but Linda's sincerity had warmed Olivia down to her very soul. She had wanted to protest, to say that Linda was wrong, that it had all been her fault--yet Olivia could not find her voice at this moment.

When they parted from their embrace, and after Olivia took a deep breath, she solemnly said, "I will do whatever I can to find her, Linda. I swear I'll move heaven and earth, if need be."

"I know," Linda replied, as she gave Olivia a sad smile. "And I couldn't ask for a better person to be looking for Lilly. Would you please keep me in the loop?"

"Of course," Olivia said. "But for now, you should go home, get some rest. I'll call you as soon as we get any news."

"All right," Linda said. Then her face grew hard. "My bastard ex-husband is behind this, isn't he?"

"He's the obvious suspect," Olivia admitted. "But right now, we're focusing all of our attention on finding Lilly. And we're not gonna stop until she's safe and sound."

Linda nodded in understanding. Then she squeezed Olivia's hand and said, "Thank you, Liv, for everything."

Olivia had wanted to say 'Don't thank me until I've brought Lilly back safe', but kept that thought to herself.

"I'll walk you out," George Huang told Linda.

Olivia sat and watched them both leave the squad room until something on her desk caught her eye. It was a framed drawing, made by Lilly, of herself and Olivia. It was no more than a pair of stick figures, the larger one signifying Olivia, with a little stick figure Lilly standing happily next to her. The larger Olivia stick figure wore a gun and a badge on her stick waist, and written under the figures, in Lilly's perfect penmanship, were the words: Liv and Lilly, friends forever!

'Where are you, Lilly?' Olivia wondered, as she stared at the drawing. 'Are you all right? Are you feeling very scared right now? Please, just stay safe, honey. Stay safe until I can find you.'

'Assuming she's not already dead,' a dark voice whispered from the back of Olivia's mind. 'They kidnapped her to get rid of any witnesses in the Beauchamp case, so why would they still keep Lilly alive? She's probably dead right now, rotting in a shallow--'

"No, stop it!" Olivia said aloud with a shake of her head.

Munch and Fin, who had just entered the squad room just then, both haltedand gave her strange looks.

"Stop what?" Fin asked. "We just got here."

"Um, nothing," Olivia said with a wave of her hand. "Just talking to myself."

Langan emerged from the interrogation room with his arm around Dayton's shoulders, as if he were a heroic rescuer leading a traumatized hostage to safety. When Elliot and Cragen sauntered out after them, Langan turned and said, "Remember what I told you, Captain. Ms. Stephenson is off limits!"

"And I'll remind you once more counselor," Cragen said, "we'll go wherever the investigation takes us."

"Then be prepared to find yourselves in court very soon," Langan warned, "being sued for harassment!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cragen derisively muttered as Langan and Dayton left the squad room. When he saw Munch and Fin, he asked, "How did it go with Foreman?"

"He clammed up," Munch said with a sigh. "But not before saying something rather interesting."

"Which is?" Cragen prodded.

"We made the usual threats about him spending a very long stretch in prison," Fin said. "To which he replied, 'I ain't no stranger to hard time, boys.' Then he sort of paused and added, 'Man, that bitch really knew what she was doing, didn't she?'"

When she heard that, Olivia locked eyes with Elliot at the same moment.

"Who was he talking about?" Cragen asked.

Munch shook his head. "That was when he clammed up again…wouldn't talk any further without a lawyer present."

"You think Foreman's talking about the dragon lady?" Olivia asked Elliot.

Elliot nodded his head. "I'd be willing to bet on it."

Fin looked back and forth between Olivia and Elliot in confusion. "Whoa, whoa! Who's the dragon lady?"

Elliot filled them in on their encounter with Dayton, and how he referred to his boss, Claire Stephenson, as the Dragon Lady. "It turns out that Stephenson runs a convict advocacy group called The Friends Of Justice."

"There now, see?" Munch said to Fin. "Just like I told you before, the mystery is slowly being peeled away, layer by layer, just like an onion."

"You're just making me very hungry," Fin muttered. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that this Stephenson, whom Foreman referred to as 'the bitch', is looking more and more like our mastermind," Munch said.

"Foreman was an ex-con," Olivia said thoughtfully. "So was Marcus Sewell. What if the other guys who abducted Lilly were also ex-cons? What better place to meet and hire experienced criminals for illegal jobs than a convict advocacy group?"

"Oh man," Fin said, his eyes wide. "This is turning into a conspiracy worthy of that group Edward Lister was with…that Specter-whatever."

"You mean Spec-Op-For. The Special Operations Force," Munch corrected. "While I concur that this is turning out to be a conspiracy, it's not the work of Sec-Op-For."

Fin shot Munch an amazed look. "Everybody hear this? Munch is actually saying that something isn't a government conspiracy!"

"You feeling all right, John?" Elliot jokingly asked.

"What would Spec-Op-For have to gain by getting Beauchamp off the hook?" Munch bluntly asked. "This case is small potatoes to an organization like them."

"A better question would be what does Claire Stephenson have to gain by getting Beauchamp off the hook," Olivia said.

"Let's find out," Cragen told them. "John, Fin: you two check into the background of The Friends Of Justice. Start with getting an address for Claire Stephenson. Elliot, Olivia: once we get that address, why don't you pay a visit to Ms. Stephenson?"

"But don't you remember the really scary threat Langan just made?" Elliot lightly asked. "It was one of his better threats, in my humble opinion."

"Fuck him," Cragen calmly replied.

"Can't argue with that logic," Elliot said with a shrug.

Olivia glanced once more at the drawing Lilly made, and suddenly felt more optimistic. She didn't know how or why, but something deep down within Olivia told her that Lilly was still alive. And while Lilly still lived, there was always hope that they would find her.

"Got it!" Munch called from his computer. He wrote down something on a sheet of paper and handed it to Elliot. "Ms. Stephenson's home address, courtesy of the DMV. It's a Park Avenue address, so be sure to wear your Sunday best."

"I'll bring my Tiffany handcuffs," Elliot said, as he frowned at the sheet of paper. "Is this an 'I'?"

"That's a 'one'," Munch replied, sounding wounded. "My handwriting's not the best, ok? So shoot me!"

"Don't tempt me," Elliot muttered, as he grabbed his coat.

Olivia grabbed the picture that Lilly drew and very lightly rubbed her finger over the little stick figure that was Lilly. 'Wherever you are, Lilly, just hold on,' she solemnly thought. 'I'm coming, baby. I'm coming for you.'

Elliot came over to her. "You ready, Liv?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod. Olivia was really looking forward to this upcoming confrontation. "Let's go meet this frigging dragon lady…."

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Claire Stephenson Residence**

**Park Avenue**

**New York City**

The elevator ride from the lobby took Elliot and Olivia up to Claire Stephenson's abode on the 24th floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal a gray-haired man in his fifties or sixties waiting for them in a small foyer with a closed door behind him. He wore the dark, elegant suit and had the polished manners of a butler, or servant.

"Detectives," he said by way of greeting. "Might I see your ID?"

Elliot and Olivia exchanged an annoyed look as they each dug out their badges and showed it to the man. They had just showed their Ids to the doorman in the lobby, and now were showing it again to this clown.

'The rich,' Elliot thought with distain. 'They bust our balls just because they can. It's easy to see why they chopped off the heads of the ruling class during the French Revolution…'

The man nodded once more after checking their ID. "Thank you, Detective Stabler, and Detective Benson. Ms. Stephenson is expecting you both. If you would please follow me?"

He opened the door and led them into a massive hallway where the walls were decorated in gaily Greco-Roman-inspired frescos of spring and summer scenes. It depressed Elliot to think that this hallway alone probably cost more to decorate than his entire apartment--and that was even after the major redecorating job that Casey did on his place when they had started going steady.

He felt a pang of guilt when he thought of Casey. They had been dating for over a year, now, and yet they were still living in separate apartments. Casey had dropped little hints about moving their relationship to the next level, but Elliot had kept stalling her. It wasn't that he didn't loved Casey; Elliot did, with all his heart. Perhaps Elliot was gun-shy, thanks to his messy divorce, but he felt that moving in with somebody was a major step that was not to be taken lightly.

He snapped his thoughts back to the present as the man led them into a private library with packed bookshelves that reached to the ceiling. "You can wait here," he said. "Ms. Stephenson will be with you shortly."

"I thought you said she was expecting us?" Olivia asked him.

His pleasant smile faded for a second as he regarded Olivia as though she were something that crawled out from under a rock. Then the smile returned as he said, "Ms. Stephenson will be with you very shortly."

When the man turned to leave, Elliot was startled to see a familiar-looking budge in the side of the man's suit jacket. 'He's got a gun!'

As the servant left, Olivia pointed at him, and then gestured at her own side. 'He's packing,' she mouthed to Elliot.

Elliot nodded. Once he was sure the servant was well out of eat shot, he said, "Looks like Ms. Stephenson doesn't have to worry too much about home invasions."

"Not with a pistol-packing butler," Olivia said. "Wanna bust his nut about it when he comes back?"

Elliot shook his head. "Nah. Odds are very good that he's got a permit."

After a minute of waiting, Olivia glanced impatiently at her watch. "Where is she?"

"She'll get here in her own sweet time, just like they always do," Elliot said, as he glanced around the library. This was yet another tactic of the rich; the longer they make people wait for them, the more busy and powerful they made themselves appear. Yet it was also a method of intimidation that often backfired, because Elliot and Olivia always took the time they were made to wait to scope out the place in an effort to gauge the personality of the person whom they were about to meet.

Elliot's attention was drawn to a collection of books within a special, glass-enclosed bookcase. When he walked up for a closer look, he saw why they were treated so special: there were first editions of Edgar Allan Poe here, along with the works of Hammett and other famous mystery writers.

'She's a mystery fan,' Elliot thought. 'Or at least she can afford to be, since there's no evidence that she's actually read this stuff.'

Yet when Elliot saw the framed letter written by Poe on the wall, he realized that Stephenson was a true literary buff. 'Buying that letter must have set Stephenson back a few thousand, if not tens of thousands.'

"El," Olivia called.

When he joined her, Olivia pointed out some books on a shelf to him. Elliot looked at the spine and read the title: 'Hard Core: The Expressions of Desire through Violence In The Mystery Story.' Then his eyebrows went up when he saw who the author was: Charles Beauchamp.

"Didn't know Charlie was so prolific," Elliot muttered, as he looked over the row of nonfiction books that Beauchamp wrote.

"He's a literary critic, in addition to being a college professor," Olivia reminded him. "As well as being a sadistic bastard. But that's not all. Take a look at this."

Olivia pointed out a small bronze statue of a dragon on a rocky crevice, its wings unfolded as if it was about to take flight. Sitting on the bare back of the dragon was a half-naked woman, who held one arm raised up, as if directing the dragon where to go.

"Stephenson's a fantasy fan as well?" Elliot asked, unsure of what Olivia was trying to say by pointing this statue out.

Olivia shook her head. "Don't you get it, El? Who's that woman riding the dragon? She's a dragon lady."

"Oh shit," Elliot whispered, as the realization struck him. The statue could well be proof that Stephenson was not only fully aware of her dragon lady reputation--but that she also reveled in it.

Before Elliot could further process this new piece of information, they were both interrupted when a woman's voice said, "That's an original Michael Bartley piece. He's a friend of mine."

Elliot turned to see a woman in her mid to late thirties standing in the doorway of the library. She was casually clad in a pair of denim shorts with a pale yellow tank top and sandals. Her dark, curly brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and she had an easy smile that seemed to sparkle along with her light green eyes.

"Claire Stephenson," she said by way of introduction.

"Detective Elliot Stabler, and my partner Detective Olivia Benson," he said. "NYPD."

Stephenson nodded at them both. Then she gestured at her clothes. "Excuse my casual dress; I was just working in the garden."

"Not a problem," Olivia said.

"May I offer you two something?" Stephenson asked. "Tea? Soda? Water?"

"No thanks," Elliot said. He couldn't help but notice how she had very subtly tried to dominate the conversation. "We're just here to ask you a few questions."

"Yes, I understand you arrested one of my employees," Stephenson said with a slight frown of disapproval. "A Mr. Dayton. May I ask why?"

"He wasn't arrested," Olivia corrected, "we just brought him in for questioning."

"And may I ask why you brought Mr. Dayton in for questioning?" Stephenson asked.

'There she goes again, dominating the conversation,' Elliot realized. 'Enough of this shit…'

"Do you know a Mr. Samuel Childs?" he abruptly asked, ignoring her previous question.

If Stephenson appeared startled by Elliot's deliberate rudeness, she hid it very well. "Yes, Mr. Childs is a friend of the family."

"We're investigating the abduction of Lilly Beauchamp, and Mr. Childs' name has come up," Elliot told her. "When we went to Mr. Childs' home, we found Mr. Dayton there. The super of the building thought he was Childs, because he pays the rent on the apartment."

"I've heard of that poor girl's abduction," Stephenson said sadly. "I do hope you find her safe."

'Now she's dodging the subject,' Elliot realized. 'And all without pulling any airs. Damn, she's good.'

"May I ask what was Mr. Dayton doing paying Mr. Childs' rent?" Olivia pointedly said, keeping the conversation on topic.

"Mr. Childs is an old family friend," Stephenson said with a weary sigh. "He was very close with my mother, and before she died, my mother had asked me to look after him. Therefore, I have…obligations regarding Mr. Childs' continued good health and welfare. You see, Mr. Childs is an alcoholic."

"I'm wondering how Mr. Childs can maintain his good health without the use of a bed," Elliot said. "We didn't find one in his apartment."

For the first time since meeting her, Elliot finally saw a crack in Stephenson's smooth veneer. She glared at him with genuine unease in her eyes. "He's told me that he prefers to sleep on the couch. Why is Mr. Childs under investigation?" she asked. "You said his name came up. How?"

'She's lying,' Elliot thought, as he felt his hackles rise. 'She already knows the answer. She's just fishing for information.'

"Mr. Childs was a frequent visitor to Charles Beauchamp at Riker's Island," Olivia replied. "Do you know anything about their friendship, Ms. Stephenson?"

"I had no idea Sam even knew Mr. Beauchamp," Stephenson said.

"But you know Charles Beauchamp," Elliot told her. He gestured at the bookshelves and added, "You've got just about all of his books."

"I don't know Charles Beauchamp personally," Stephenson said with a shake of her head. "He was a brilliant analyst of the mystery genre, and I greatly appreciated his work. But little did I--or anyone else, for that matter--realize just how well Mr. Beauchamp understood the heart of darkness that lay within us all."

"Tell that to his victims," Olivia said with disgust. "I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that they were brutalized by that monster because he understood the darker side of his nature."

"I don't think I like your tone, Detective Benson," Stephenson said defensively.

'She's getting ready to kick us out,' Elliot realized. It was time to make a final, hard push with her.

"We're searching for a little girl who has been kidnapped just this afternoon," he firmly told her. "We haven't received a ransom note, and without that, the first twenty four hours in a kidnapping become the most important--because, after that amount of time, the chances of finding the kidnap victim dwindle sharply. So if we appear a little abrupt with you, it's nothing personal, it's just that the clock is ticking. Now, I understand you run an advocacy group for convicts called The Friends Of Justice. Has Charles Beauchamp received any assistance from your group?"

"No," Stephenson replied warily. "My group aids either convicts who have just been released from prison, or those who are unjustly jailed. Mr. Beauchamp's situation doesn't meet our criteria."

"Would it be possible for us to receive a list of the convicts that your group is currently helping?" Olivia asked.

"I'm sorry, but that list is private," Stephenson said firmly. The politeness was now completely gone from her manner. "And if there isn't anything else, then I must take my leave. I have an appointment that I must keep."

Elliot knew they had a snow ball's chance in hell of getting a list of names from Stephenson, but he didn't fault Olivia for asking anyway. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Stephenson," he said. "We'll see ourselves out."

When he and Olivia reached the hallway, Elliot knew that his partner was hopping mad. He could tell it in the way Olivia walked, and the subtle manner in which she very slightly shook her head in disgust.

He had an idea why she was so livid, but Elliot waited until they were within the privacy of the elevator before he said anything. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Liv?"

"That bitch is as guilty as sin," Olivia firmly said.

"Yeah, she definitely gives off that vibe," Elliot concurred. "She's a very smooth customer."

"But not that smooth," Olivia said with another disgusted shake of her head. "We've found our mastermind--this frigging bitch is the one behind it all. I know that in my heart."

"That's not going to be enough to charge her with," Elliot said. "Besides, we're still not sure what her motive is. Why would she do all of this for Beauchamp, anyway?"

"Elliot, don't you know?" Olivia said with disbelief. "Jesus, it's so obvious

**------------------------------**

Casey was stunned.

She glanced down with a horrified expression at her body, at the ropes that bound her wrists and ankles to the hard-backed wooden chair that she sat in.

'What the hell is going on?' she frantically thought. 'The last thing I remember, I was just in my office!'

When she heard a muffled cry, Casey glanced over her shoulder and saw Olivia. The detective also sat helplessly bound to a chair, but she was also gagged, as well. Then Olivia's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she stared in terror at something behind Casey.

Casey glanced over at the door and let out a cry of terror when she saw him.

Edward Lister.

He loomed in the shadows, looking for all the world like a vampire. His face was a ghastly pale, and Casey thought he had bloodstains on his mouth. He moved silently and quickly into the room, reaching out for Casey with his hands.

"You're dead!" Casey cried in horror. "No, you're DEAD!"

Just as Lister's hands wrapped themselves around Casey's throat, he smiled, baring a mouthful of glistening fangs--

"CASEY!"

Casey awoke with a start, instantly relieved to find herself on the couch in her office. She looked up and saw her fellow ADA Alexandra Borgia leaning over her with an anxious expression on her face. "Are you all right?"

"Oh Christ," Casey muttered, feeling like an idiot. "Yeah, Alex. I'm fine. I was having a bad dream."

"Must have been a doozy," she said.

Casey abruptly remembered that it had been Alex who had taken over her SVU workload when Casey was in hiding during those dark days, which started when Edward Lister had blown out the window of her office with an automatic weapon.

"Yeah, it was about Lister," Casey replied. "I keep dreaming about him every now and then. It's been more than a year after his death, and I still can't get the bastard out of my head."

"You had been stalked, and then kidnapped," Alex said sympathetically. "It takes time to work through stuff like that."

"Thanks," Casey said, touched. "You had my back once before, and I see you've got it covered once more. I appreciate it, Alex."

Casey frowned when she heard a commotion from outside her office. "What's going on out there?"

"Oh, that's right," Alex said with a smile. "You haven't heard the news yet."

"What news?" Casey asked.

"C'mon," Alex replied with a grin, as she gestured for Casey to join her outside.

Puzzled, Casey went with Alex into the hallway, where she saw Branch standing amidst a crowd of ADAs. Tracy Kibre, Kelly Gaffney, Ron Carver, and even Jack McCoy stood amongst the crowd.

'Was there a meeting called that I didn't hear about?' Casey wondered. Yet departmental meetings weren't held in the hallway, and judging from the jovial banter being tossed about, this gathering was anything but formal.

"Pretzels!" Tracy Kibre said with a laugh. "You're kidding me!"

"I know, who'd thought I'd miss pretzels so much!" a woman responded. Her voice sounded strangely familiar to Casey. "But I swear, I did! And the Chinese food out there, Christ Almighty! The first thing I want to do now that I'm back in the city is get a decent egg roll!"

"It's good to see you've got your priorities straight, Alex," Branch joked, which caused the group to break up into laughter. When he saw Casey, Branch gestured for her to come closer. "Casey! Come and celebrate the return of one of our own!"

Casey was shocked to see Alex Cabot staring back at her with a goofy grin on her face. "You're back?" Casey said, still dumbfounded, as she gave Alex a warm hug in greeting. "What happened?"

"It's over," Alex said joyfully. "I'm officially out of the Witness Protection Program."

Alex had been Casey's predecessor as the ADA for the Special Victim's Unit, before a case involving ruthless drug lords got out of control and forced her to go into hiding. "What about the drug lords?"

"They're dead, at least the ones who were after Alex," Branch told her. "A bomb exploded within the compound they were meeting in. Killed them all."

'Spec-Op-For,' Casey thought with a chill, recalling the name of the secret government black ops agency that Edward Lister was a part of. This bombing sounded like it might be their handiwork. If it was, then she actually had something to be grateful to those bastards for.

"I'd never thought I be so happy to hear about people getting killed by a bomb," Alex ruefully said.

"Given the circumstances, your feelings are understandable," McCoy said.

"Well, what are we doing standing around here?" Branch abruptly said. "We've all gotwork to do--but not before we raise a toast to Alex's return! Somebody get the cups."

As the crowd began walking down the hallway for the toast, Alex Borgia made a face at Casey. "Breaking out the booze," she said distastefully, "how much more 'old boy tradition' can you get?"

Casey just smiled slightly in response. She wasn't sure why--maybe it was the nightmare she just had--but despite the joyful occasion, Casey still couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was going to happen soon.

'I hope to God I'm wrong,' she anxiously thought.

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

"She loves him?" Cragen said with disbelief.

Olivia nodded her head firmly. "Yes, Captain. It was pretty obvious to me."

Yet Cragen didn't look convinced. "You're saying Claire Stephenson sets up this advocacy group so she can meet ex-convicts who will carry out her plans to get Charles Beauchamp off the hook, and she does all of this because she _loves_ Beauchamp?"

"You didn't see the look in her eyes every time she spoke about him," Olivia said. "Or hear the way her voice was almost breathless at the very mention of Beauchamp's name. Trust me, Captain, that crazy bitch is head over heels for Beauchamp."

They were gathered in the squad room, along with Casey, Elliot, Munch, Fin, and George Huang--as well as Detective Alex Eames from the Major Case Squad, who stopped by the One Six on her way home from work to pay a visit to Munch. She sat next to Munch, attentively listening to their bull session, while respectfully remaining out of it, since it wasn't her case.

Eames leaned forward and grabbed Munch's hand, and Munch rubbed the back of her palm with his thumb. This sweet display of affection was very discreet--yet Olivia caught it, and she smiled slightly. At first she had thought Munch and Eames were a pretty odd match up, until she realized that they were very good for each other. Eames was one of the few people who actually loved listening to Munch's wild conspiracy theories, and she had a calming effect on the usually hyper-active Munch.

As happy as Olivia felt for these two, she also couldn't help but feel a little envious of their relationship, as well. 'I don't know why I'm so jealous,' Olivia thought, 'because Eric and I have a great rapport.'

She focused her thoughts back on the present when Cragen asked Elliot, "What did you notice with Stephenson?"

"I agree with Liv," he replied. "I got a pretty bad vibe from Stephenson overall, Cap. When she wasn't acting dodgy, she was trying to dominate the conversation."

"That makes sense," Huang spoke up. "Because from what I've been hearing about her so far, Claire Stephenson really sounds like a woman who is used to getting things her way. The dragon lady statute that Olivia mentioned only confirms this for me."

"She not only knows of her dragon lady rep, but she enjoys it," Elliot said.

Huang pointed at him. "Exactly! This is a very arrogant person who is not afraid to flaunt her wealth, along with the power that it buys. If she's in love with Charles Beauchamp--and I believe she is--then Stephenson will stop at nothing to help him."

"Even to the point of hiring ex-cons to do her dirty work for her," Casey said, sounding disgusted. "All right, we have our likely suspect, but how can we prove it? Where's the evidence linking Stephenson to this plot?"

"Other than the fact that she knows Samuel Childs?" Olivia asked.

"She can still deny knowing anything that Childs was involved in," Casey said. "We still have no concrete evidence. Speaking of which, did we get the results from the test on Eugene Foreman's gun?"

"Yeah, his gun doesn't match the bullet that killed Marcus Sewell," Fin told her.

Casey shook her head in irritation. "And when the hell were you planning on telling me this!"

"Sorry," Fin muttered, taken aback by her outburst.

"No, wait," Casey quickly said. She stood pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. She let out a heavy sigh and added, "It just seems like whatever evidence we have in this damn case always evaporates. I apologize for ripping your head off, Fin."

"Already forgotten," Fin assured her.

"Since we surmise that Stephenson's in love with Beauchamp, a good starting place would be trying to prove that," Cragen said. "Because that will prove motive, and hopefully turn up some more concrete evidence as well."

"Stephenson claims she doesn't know Beauchamp personally," Elliot said. "If we can at least prove that they did meet--that they do know each other--then we've caught her in a lie, and that'll be enough to tighten the noose around her neck."

"It'll be enough to grant you a subpoena for the records of The Friends Of Justice," Casey promised. "Along with a search warrant of her place."

Olivia cringed when she realized that Stephenson could have been holding Lilly hostage in her home. 'And we were just there! Oh God!' She glanced at her watch. 'Lilly's been abducted for almost eight hours now!'

"But how do we go about proving an affair between the psycho socialite and the crazed college professor?" Munch asked. "Where do you even begin?"

'College professor?' Olivia realized, as her mouth dropped open with shock. "Oh, sweet Jesus," she excitedly said aloud, "that's it!"

When everybody stared at her just then, Olivia said, "Beauchamp was a college professor, right? So maybe Stephenson met him when she took one of his classes."

"Oh man, could it be that easy?" Fin said with a smile.

"Let's find out," Cragen said. "Olivia, you and Elliot track down Beauchamp's college records and see if Stephenson was ever a student. Fin, Munch, I want you two on Samuel Child's trail. He's a key player in all of this, and the sooner we get him, the better."

Olivia got up and was about to grab her coat when Cragen said, "Olivia, you have a visitor."

Puzzled, she stared in the direction that Cragen gestured and saw Eric standing by the doorway of the squad room. Olivia was about to turn to Elliot and say that she won't be a minute, until she saw Elliot and Casey abruptly walk off to one of the interrogation rooms by themselves.

'Damn it,' Olivia thought, as she angrily stalked over to Eric. He was the very last person whom she wanted to see right now. Olivia was eager to get out and hunt down any incriminating evidence she could find on Claire Stephenson, but her boyfriend's presence had effectively killed the momentum of the investigation.

"Hey," Eric said, with a slight smile, as she walked up to him. He carried a paper bag in his hand.

"Hi," she said with an annoyed sigh.

"How's everything going?" Eric asked. He appeared to be very concerned.

"We were just about to leave," Olivia replied. "We got a lead in the investigation."

"What about you?" he asked, fretful. "Are you all right?"

Olivia stared at him strangely. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Eric gazed at the floor briefly. Then he glanced at her and said, "I heard somebody shot at you today, Liv. I first heard about it on the radio, where the talk show host kept referring to you as 'Dirty Harriet'. From what I could gather, you were unharmed--at least, physically."

Olivia let out a horrified gasp when she realized that she had been so caught up in this damn case that she never even made one phone call to Eric all day. "Eric, I'm so sorry," she said morosely.

He gave her a tight hug. "I'm just glad to see you're all right. You said you had a lead?"

"Yeah, El and I just met the bitch who may be behind this whole thing," Olivia said. "We're heading out now to try and see if we can scare up some evidence."

"Ok, I won't keep you any longer," Eric said. He gave her a lingering gaze before he handed over the paper bag. "Here, I got you and everybody else some bagels."

Olivia felt even more guilty as she accepted the bag. "Eric, again, I am so sorry that I never called you. God, you must have been worried sick!"

"I was," he admitted. Then Eric broke into a smile. "But I should have known that it would have taken a lot more than somebody shooting at you to slow you down, Olivia." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now get back to work."

"Yes sir," she said, jokingly. Then, growing serious, she added, "I may be very late, in fact, I--"

"--might not be home," Eric said with a nod. "I know, and I understand. Just be careful, Liv."

"I will," she said, after they kissed. "I'll call you later."

When Olivia returned to her desk to drop off the bag of bagels, she found Elliot standing there. He stared at her strangely.

"What?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing," Elliot said, abruptly shaking his head. He gazed after Eric for a brief moment before retrieving his jacket.

"'night, Liv," Eames said as she walked out of the squad room.

"Goodnight, Alex," Olivia replied. "Maybe one of these nights we can all get a beer at Mulligan's."

"Sounds great to me," Eames said with a smile. "Now we'd just have to wait for a quiet night!"

Olivia laughed at Eames comment before she saw Casey walk by. The ADA had gazed at her with open concern, until she suddenly gave Olivia a forced smile. Before Olivia could ask what was up, Casey ducked into Cragen's office.

Olivia turned and saw Elliot was once more staring oddly at her. "Elliot," she said, losing patience, "what is it?"

Elliot let out a deep breath. "You're going to find out sooner or later anyway."

"Find out what?" Olivia asked.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Olivia," Cragen said, "you have a visitor."

When Elliot saw Eric standing by the doorway, he thought this would be the perfect time. He strode up to Casey and said, "May I speak with you in private?"

"Not now, Elliot," she said with a depressed sigh. "I've got to talk to Don about the--"

He gestured toward Olivia and Eric and said, "Liv's taking time out to talk to her better half, so why can't we do the same? C'mon, Case, just five minutes, that's all."

"All right," she agreed.

He led her to one of the unused interrogation rooms. Casey stood by the desk with her arms folded and stared at him expectantly. "What is it?"

Elliot pulled out a chair. "Have a seat." When she started to protest, he added, "Just indulge me, ok?"

Casey sat down in the chair with Elliot standing behind her.

"What are you…oh, GOD!" Casey said, as Elliot began to slowly and steadily massage the muscles in her neck.

Elliot started at just under the base of her skull, then worked his hands down her neck and across her shoulders, kneading Casey's taut muscles between his fingers all the while. He was pleased to feel Casey loosening up under his touch. He finished off the massage with a broad rub down across her upper back with his knuckles. Then he gave Casey a gentle hug from behind as he kissed her cheek.

"You're a lifesaver, Elliot," Casey whispered. "Christ, that felt so good!"

"You looked tense before, so I figured you could use it," he said, as he stepped away from the chair. "How are you holding up?"

"As well as could be, I suppose," Casey replied, as she got up from the chair. She hesitated for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the floor, until she said, "Elliot, if there was ever anything wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

He frowned at her. "You mean if there was anything wrong between us? Of course I would tell you! But there isn't. Why do you ask?"  
"Do you know Kelly Gaffney?" Casey asked. "She works with me in the DA's office."

"Of course I do," Elliot replied.

"Well, she's been seeing this guy, a stockbroker, until he suddenly just dumped her without even saying why," Casey said. She sounded sheepish. "It's just that I've been thinking…oh, I don't know what I've been thinking! The whole thing seems so silly right now."

Elliot firmly held her by the arms and gazed levelly into her eyes. "I would never do that to you, Casey. You understand me? I love you."

"I know," she said, looking more at ease. "I love you too. I'm sorry for even bringing it up. It's been one wicked day so far, and I guess I was just freaking out over nothing."

"It's been a wicked day for all of us," he told her. "So don't worry about it. I'd better get back outside before Liv starts to wonder where I've ran off to."

"Oh, jeez, Liv…I'd almost forgotten," Casey said with a pained expression. "Something else happened today that you should know about, Elliot."

"What is it?"

"Alex Cabot," Casey said. "She's back."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Elliot," Olivia said, losing patience, "what is it?"

'This is ridiculous,' Elliot thought, as he let out a deep breath. He had been dancing around how he was going to tell Olivia that Alex Cabot--her former girlfriend--was back in New York City, yet there was only one simple way of telling her: just spit it out. "You're going to find out sooner or later anyway," he said.

"Find out what?" Olivia asked. She looked like she was ready to burst.

"Not here," Elliot told her. "C'mon, I'll tell you in the car."

Once they got to the garage, and got inside their car, Olivia leaned forward across the front seat and stared anxiously at Elliot. "What is it, El?"

"Alex is back," he said.

Olivia frowned at him. "No she isn't. I just saw Eames leave. What the hell are you talking about?"

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "I mean Alex Cabot. She's back in New York City. Casey just told me."

Olivia sat back suddenly, as if having just received an electric shock. "What happened?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, grabbing hold of her arm. "There's nothing wrong, Liv. It's all over; Alex doesn't have to stay in Witness Protection anymore."

"That's crazy! What about the price on her head?"

"It's gone. The drug dealers who wanted her dead are themselves dead, now. Casey tells me they were killed when a bomb exploded in their compound. She seems to think it was the work of Spec-Op-For."

Olivia's eyes grew wide. "Was it?"

Elliot shrugged. "Who knows? The main thing is, it's over. Alex is free to live her life again."

"Is Alex already back in New York?"

"Yes. Casey saw Alex earlier today at the DA's office, when they gave her a big toast for her return. Branch has also promoted Alex; she'll supervise her own staff of ADAs from now on."

Olivia slowly nodded as she absorbed al of this news. At one point Alex had been the love of her life, and although she had seemingly moved on with Eric, Elliot figured that this still must be pretty heady stuff for Olivia to handle.

"She's been back in town and she still hasn't contacted me," Olivia said, her voice sounding very small and hurt. "I guess she's been pretty busy, huh?"

Elliot felt his heart break at the melancholy tone in her voice. Olivia had been his partner for almost eight years, now, and nobody was as close to him as she was. He hated to see her get hurt. Elliot reached over and grabbed her shoulder. "Alex's probably got a lot to deal with right now, Liv. But I'm sure she'll call you once things settle down."

"Yeah," Olivia said with a heavy sigh. "All right, look, we've got a job to do, so I guess we'd better get to it."

'She's back,' Elliot thought with a nod. Olivia had once more managed to bury her pain deep down somewhere inside of her so that she could concentrate on the task at hand. Still, Elliot felt bad for her. He almost wished they could drive straight over to the DA's office right now and speak with Alex--but Lilly Beauchamp was still missing, and she still needed them.

'Whatever lingering issues between Olivia and Alex that remained would have to be dealt with some other time,' Elliot thought, as he started up the car.

As he pulled the car out of the garage, Olivia's cell phone rang. No sooner did she say hello than Olivia began shouting into the phone. "Hold on! Just calm down and tell me what happened. What? They did? Ok, just hang on, sweetie, we'll be right there!" She turned to Elliot and added, "Forget the college; take us over to Linda Beauchamp's instead."

"No problem," he said, concerned. "What happened?"

"Lilly's kidnappers just contacted Linda," Olivia grimly said, "with a ransom demand."

**To Be Continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

'She's still alive,' Olivia thought, as she sat in the passenger seat of the car. She was so lost in her thoughts that Olivia barely noticed as Elliot wildly swerved the car in and out of traffic on their way to Linda Beauchamp's home. 'If the kidnappers are calling with a ransom, then that means that Lilly is still alive. She may not be safe…yet, but she's still alive!'

When they arrived at Linda's modest apartment, there were several police cars already parked out front. Having previously been the target of a kidnapping attempt, Linda was already under police protection, but Olivia suspected that the extra squad cars belonged to her fellow cops from the One Six, whom she contacted right after receiving Linda's frantic call.

Cragen was just getting out of a squad car as Olivia and Elliot parked theirs. They met on the sidewalk.

"Did she say what kind of ransom they demanded?" Cragen asked her.

"No," Olivia replied, as she, Cragen and Elliot all walked into the foyer. A uniformed officer held the door open for them. "I didn't want any particulars being stated on an open line."

"Good move," the Captain said. "I gave Munch and Fin the job of tracking down whether or not Stephenson ever took one of Beauchamp's classes."

When they entered Linda's apartment, Olivia saw that Linda sat on the couch, wringing her hands nervously. When she saw Olivia, Linda promptly burst into tears as she got up and ran into her arms.

"Hey, easy, easy," Olivia soothed her. "It's ok, Linda. It's ok."

"She's alive, Liv," Linda breathlessly told her. "They let me speak to Lilly on the phone. She sounded so scared!" She began to cry again. "Oh, God, I can't bear this!"

"But she is alive, Linda," Olivia assured her. "Ok? As long as she's alive, there's hope, right?"

"Was this call traced?" Cragen asked Morales, a TARU technician.

"No," Morales said flatly. "Apparently, they made the call with a cell phone."

"You can still trace the area from where it was made from the cell phone towers, can't you?" Cragen asked.

Morales shook his head. "They called Ms. Beauchamp on her private cell phone and didn't speak for very long. We didn't even get a recording. These guys knew what they were doing."

"Yeah, that's been the damn problem all along," Elliot said with a shake of his head. "These bastards always know what they're doing."

Olivia held Linda out at arm's length and said, "What did they say to you? You need to remember their exact words."

"The man just said, 'Here's your daughter,' and he put Lilly on the phone," Linda recalled. "Lilly told me that she was all right, but she was very scared, and she couldn't wait to see me." Her voice broke with emotion, yet Linda pressed on. "The man took Lilly off the phone and told me that they wanted to meet with me tomorrow morning. Just me, by myself, with no police. He would call back tomorrow morning at eight with the specific place and time. He also said that If I didn't show up, or if I showed up with the police, Lilly would die."

"He never mentioned any money?" Elliot asked. "No ransom of any kind?"

"No," Linda said. "They just wanted to see me, that's all."

"That's damn strange," Elliot said thoughtfully.

"Would you please excuse us for a moment, Ms. Beauchamp?" Cragen asked, as he led Olivia and Elliot to another room. Once they had privacy, he said, "I don't like this."

"The kidnappers knew enough to call Linda on her private cell, thus avoiding any police interference," Elliot said.

"Or so they hoped," Cragen said.

"Am I the only one who's noticing the timing here?" Olivia asked. "No sooner do Elliot and I pay a visit to Stephenson than this happens."

Elliot nodded. "Yeah, it looks like she may be feeling the heat, so she lit a fire under the troops."

"But to do what? Abduct Linda?" Olivia shook her head. "I doubt they'd want a face to face meeting just to talk to her."

"The sole purpose all along of this team that Stephenson hired was to get rid of the incriminating evidence against Charles Beauchamp," Cragen said. "And that also includes getting rid of the witnesses. They had planned on abducting both Linda and Lilly, but you then fouled that up for them, Olivia. So, yeah, I think getting to Linda is exactly what they're after here."

"I'll go in Linda's place," Olivia offered. When both Cragen and Elliot looked uncertain, she quickly added, "I can wear a wig! It'll be enough for me to get close enough to them."

"Why? So they can blow your head off?" Cragen said.

When Olivia stared at him, stunned, Elliot said, "He has a point, Liv. If they just want to kill Linda all along, then why make a big production out of kidnapping her? Why not hide a sniper with a rifle at the meeting place tomorrow, and as soon as she shows her face: bang!"

'Jesus!' Olivia thought with horror. That plan sounded so cold, and yet she had to admit that it made sense.

"That would mean Lilly would probably already be dead right now," Cragen said. "They only needed her to be alive long enough just to get Linda to the meeting."

"No, I refuse to believe that!" Olivia snapped. "Lilly's alive! And as long as she's alive, then I'm not giving up on her!"

When she saw the solemn reaction of Cragen, Olivia instantly regretted her harsh words. Even Elliot gave her a slight shake of his head, as if to say that he thought Olivia had pushed it too far.

"Your request to take Linda's place at the meeting tomorrow is denied," Cragen said firmly. "From this point on, I'll be dealing with the tactical squad about this situation."

"Captain," Olivia started to say, "wait, I--"

"By rights, you shouldn't even be on this case," Cragen angrily told her. "I let you stay on against my better judgment because you're a damn good cop. But you're too close, Olivia. You're letting your affection for Lilly get in the way of your instincts! As of right now, you're off the case. Go home, get some sleep."

But Olivia was not ready to give up. "Captain, just let me--"

"You want me to suspend you, Olivia?" Cragen asked. "Because that's what this is coming to."

Olivia knew when to back down. "No sir."

"Elliot, take her home," Cragen told curtly him.

"C'mon, Liv," Elliot said to her, looking uneasy. "Let's go."

"Liv?" Linda called, as she watched in puzzlement as Olivia and Elliot left the apartment.

Olivia didn't know what to say, other than to give her a helpless shrug.

Once they were outside, Olivia shook her head in disgust. "This is bullshit, Elliot. He can't take me off the case! Not now!"

"He just did," Elliot said with a weary sigh.

When they got into the car, Olivia shot him an angry look. "You agree with him, don't you?"

"I think you're too close to the case," he admitted. "You proved that when you just volunteered to be a target just now."

"We don't know for sure that Linda would have been shot--"

"Oh come on, Liv, will you listen to yourself!" Elliot said, annoyed. "You're ignoring what's really going on because you don't want to admit that Lilly may very well be dead right now."

"You don't know that for sure, either," Olivia said harshly. "And until I see a body, I'm not assuming that Lilly's dead!"

"Fine, but in the meantime, nobody's willing to let you needlessly risk your life!" Elliot replied. After a moment's hesitation, he stared at her and asked, "How close was she?"

Olivia stared at him. "What?"

"Lilly. How close were you to getting her today at the school before she was snatched away by those bastards?"

Olivia felt a twinge of pain surge within her as she recalled seeing Lilly walking towards her in the hallway of the school--and then Lilly had just slipped away from her. So close, and yet so far. She'd replayed that moment over and over in her mind all day…so much so now that it was agonizing for her to even think about it.

"It's not your fault, Olivia," Elliot said softly. "There's no need to punish yourself for it by putting yourself in the line of fire."

"I just wasn't fast enough," Olivia said, as she stifled back a sob. "I should have went and gotten her myself, I should never have--"

Elliot grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly in his own. "It wasn't your fault," he repeated. "We did everything humanly possible to prevent Lilly from being kidnapped. And you still did far more than I did, you stopped them from grabbing Linda."

Crying openly now, Olivia wiped the tears from her face with a tissue that Elliot handed her. "It still wasn't good enough."

"The hell it wasn't!" Elliot said. "If they had succeeded in grabbing Linda, along with Lilly, then the both of them would have been dead right now. But you stopped that from happening, Olivia. And by doing that, you gave Lilly a fighting chance. And let me promise youthis: nobody's giving up on her, least of all me. You understand?"

"Thanks," Olivia said, deeply touched by what he told her.

He gave Olivia's shoulder a gentle, affectionate squeeze, which felt great. "You look exhausted," he said. "C'mon, let's get you home."

Olivia couldn't really argue with that. As much as she felt guilty about leaving the investigation, the fact of the matter was that she was worn out and bone-tired. Whether she liked it or not, Olivia needed a rest.

When Elliot drove Olivia back to her place, he put the car in park and asked, "Want me to come up?"

She shook her head. "Thanks. But I'll be fine."

He nodded. "Give Eric a call if you want. Y'know, just in case you can't sleep."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thanks for the advice, Dr. Phil," she said with a smile. "Seriously, El, thanks…just for being there."

She hugged him just then, and for a brief moment, Olivia didn't want to let go of Elliot. She just wanted to remain within his warm embrace for the rest of the night.

'Jeez, what am I thinking?' Olivia thought, as she quickly broke their embrace. 'I must be more tired than I thought!'

"I'll call you tomorrow," he called, as she got out.

"First thing tomorrow," she said, shutting the car door.

The very first thing Olivia did when she got to her apartment was to take a hot shower. She merely stood under the water and let it wash all over her, inhaling the steam, and enjoying the feeling of her muscles loosening up under the water massage.

After the shower, Olivia got dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. 'I should give Eric a call,' she thought, as she sat down on the sofa. She took a moment to sit back and relax against the cushions. She needed to collect her thoughts for a second.

And that was where Olivia had fallen fast asleep.

**New York University**

**Records Department**

"Damn," Fin muttered, as he stared bleary-eyed at the computer screen. He leaned back in the chair and let out an irritated sigh. Charles Beauchamp had worked at this college for nearly twenty years, and Fin had just searched through Beauchamp's computer course records for the first ten for any sign that Claire Stephenson was a student. But so far, nothing. "I got Zippo here, John. What about you?"

Munch, who was across from Fin in the computer records room, also leaned back in his seat. But he had a thoughtful look on his face. "Yeah…uh, nothing here…as well."

Fin knew his partner well enough to know when something got stuck in his craw. "What is it?"

"Hmm?" Munch said absently. He still glared at the computer screen, as if it committed an inexcusable offense against him.

"Whenever you get all contemplative like this on me, it means you got something," Fin said. "So spill it, man. What is it?"

"It's this name," Munch said, pointing at the screen. "Coral Stevens."

Fin leaned over Munch and stared at the name on the screen. "Same initials as our girl Claire. Your spider sense is tingling about this one, huh?"

"She attended Beauchamp's class over seven years ago, and the address given for her is on the West Side," Munch said. "But I've got a hunch it might be Stephenson. That she gave a phony name."

"But Claire Stephenson has lived at her present Park Avenue address for the last fifteen years," Fin reminded him. "Coral here is from the West Side."

"But Stephenson could have given the school a different address, in addition to a different name," Munch insisted. "I mean, Samuel Childs' home address is nothing more than a mail drop for him. So why wouldn't Stephenson do the same thing for herself?"

"But how can we prove that this was Stephenson?" Fin asked. "If she covers her tracks completely, then her financial records will be a smoke screen, as well."

"All students at this college must have a ID card," Munch told him. "A photo ID card. Right?"

"Oh man," Fin said, as a smile spread across his lips. "Where's Gina?"

Yet when they went back to the security desk and told Gina of their request to see the photo Id of Coral Stevens, she began to shake her head slowly. The security guard was a young brunette woman in her late twenties--a single mother, judging from the pictures of kids on her desk.

"Oh, you guys are in for a world of hurt," she said.

"Why?" Munch asked.

Instead of telling them, Gina showed them. It was a vast room in the basement filled with filing cabinets as far as the eye could see.

"Oy," Munch muttered under his breath.

"The computer system underwent a major upgrade a few months ago," Gina explained. "So a lot of information--like the old photo Ids from years gone by--were filed on disk and stored away. The problem was that these 'geniuses' never bother to properly label the boxes. They were simply dumped down here with the rest of the stuff."

"Oh crud," Fin said.

"Yeah," Gina said with a sympathetic smile. "You guys sure you want to go digging through this mess? It'll probably take you all night."

After an exchanging a weary look with Munch, Fin said, "Do either of us look like we've got something better to do tonight?"

Gina shrugged. "Alrighty, then! I'll help you guys look, right after I put on another pot of coffee for us. We're gonna need it!"

After Gina left, Fin looked over at Munch and asked, "You sure about this hunch of yours?"

"Yeah," he replied with a heavy sigh. "I'm sure."

"Damn," Fin said, as he gazed at the vast storage space. "You remember that big-ass warehouse they stored the ark in at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark?"

"Yes."

"This place is even bigger," Fin said grimly.

"Well, if you should find the lost ark of the covenant, give a holler," Munch told him.

**Olivia Benson's Apartment**

Olivia was awakened by a steady ringing. She was stunned to find that it was now daylight, and that she had been sleeping on the sofa. She wondered how she could hear the alarm clock in her bedroom all the way out here. Then she realized that the ringing was from her phone.

"Hello?" she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Get dressed and meet me outside your building right now," Elliot told her in a frantic tone of voice.

"What happened?" Olivia said, as she instantly sprung up from the sofa.

"They found Lilly," he said. "I'll give you the details in person. I'm only five minutes away from you right now. Just be outside waiting for me!"

"Got it!" Olivia hung up and ran into her bedroom. She quickly exchanged her sweatpants for a pair of jeans and slipped on her cop gear, including her gun holster and badge. Grabbing a pair of black running shoes with her right hand, Olivia grabbed her house keys and cell phone with her left and stuffed them into her pocket as she ran barefoot into the hallway, slamming the door to her apartment shut behind her. She punched the button for the elevator as she stuffed her feet into the shoes.

"Fuck it," Olivia muttered, when the elevator was taking too long. She took the stairs.

Olivia burst into the lobby, where she broke into a mad dash for the front door. Her sudden appearance scared a young woman who was a dog walker. Several of the dogs in her charge--including an impossibly small Yorkie--all started barking indigantly at Olivia as she ran by.

Ralph, her doorman--God bless him--held the door open for her. "Have a good day, Detective Benson!"

"From your lips to God's ears, Ralph," she said, as she flew past him. "Thanks!"

Olivia ran out onto the sidewalk just as Elliot was pulling up in the car. She ran around to the passenger side, got in, and Elliot took off before she could even shut the door all the way.

"Tell me what happened," Olivia asked, as she slipped on her seat belt.

"Lilly called 911," Elliot said. "She told the operator who she was and then she abruptly stopped talking. But the phone was left off the hook, and the call was made from a landline phone, so we were able to trace it almost instantly. She called from North Tommersing, that's a town up in Westchester County. Cragen and the SWAT team are already on their way up there."

'Always fighting, never giving up. That's my girl!' Olivia thought, as she swelled inwardly with pride. 'That's my Lilly!'

She frowned at Elliot when something occurred to her. "I guess Cragen changed his mind about having me on the case, huh?"

"He never said a word about calling you," Elliot told her. "I did that on my own."

When Olivia gave him a stunned look, Elliot nodded knowingly at her. "I know, Cragen will be pissed at me," he said. "To hell with it. It'll be a big help for Lilly to see you. But no matter what happens, you still deserve to be there, Olivia."

Olivia never loved Elliot more than she did at that moment. But this was not the time to get all maudlin; for they were now racing northwards, towards what could well be the end of this very case. And judging from the cold, clammy feeling that Olivia had in the pit of her stomach right now, she had a very good hunch that this would be the end of it; that she would be seeing Lilly again very soon.

'If there's anything I can do to help her--anything at all--then I'll do whatever it takes to make sure Lilly gets out of this alive,' Olivia solemnly swore. 'Even if I have to kill every last one of the scumbags who kidnapped her to do it!'

**To Be Continued...**


	9. Chapter 9

"Man, I can't believe it's morning already!" Fin moaned, as he glanced at his watch.

"Technically, it's been morning for the past seven hours or so," Munch said, as he kept searching through the college photo Ids on the computer. "It becomes morning after midnight."

"Yeah, well, it's not really morning to me until the sun comes up," Fin replied.

Munch glanced around the computer record room that he, Fin and Gina were in--a room that was devoid of any windows--and said, "Do you see the sun shining anywhere in here?"

"No, but--" Fin started say.

"Then it's not officially morning, ok?" Munch retorted. "It's still last night. And so, congratulations! You're not really as tired as you think you are."

"You mean it's still tonight, right?" Gina asked, looking up from her computer console. "You can't say it's last night if it's still nighttime."

"Unless it's nighttime and you're referring to the previous night," Fin told her. "Which is actually last night."

"Why do I feel like I'm in an Abbott & Costello routine?" Munch said, as he took off his glasses and rubbed his face with his hands.

It took them the better part of the night (or morning, depending on one's point of view) just to find the damn computer records that contained the photo Ids in the first place. But that wasn't the end of their search; they still had to go through at least several dozen discs--one Goddamn picture at a time--in their hunt to prove that Claire Stephenson had taken Charles Beauchamp's class under the fake name of Coral Stevens. The process so far had been slow and tedious.

"I'm sorry," Gina said sheepishly. "I didn't mean--"

"No, I should apologize," Munch said with a sigh as he put his glasses back on. "I didn't mean to bite your heads off. Well, I always mean to bite Fin's head off, but it was nothing personal with you, Gina."

"He's just a cranky old bastard," Fin said conspiratorially to Gina, "just do what I do and ignore him."

When Munch glanced at his watch, something occurred to him. "It's not that I don't appreciate your help, Gina, but didn't your shift end already?"

"Yeah, it ended about an hour and a half ago," Gina said solemnly. "But I want to stay and help, if you guys don't mind. It's just that…well, I've got a little girl the same age as Lilly Beauchamp…so I want to help Lilly out in any way I can."

"You been a huge help so far," Fin told her. "We appreciate it."

"Yes," Munch readily agreed. "Thank you for everything."

When Munch glanced back at the computer screen, he gave the new photo ID that came up a double take. Claire Stephenson's stern visage stared balefully back at him from a photo ID that belonged to Coral Stevens. Munch leaned forward for a better view. She was younger, and her hairstyle was different, but it was indeed Claire Stephenson in the picture.

"You two can stop searching," Munch said, "because I found her."

Fin and Gina came over and peered at Munch's computer screen. Fin broke into a broad grin and said, "Well, well, well…if it isn't the Wicked Witch of Park Avenue!"

Munch couldn't help but break into a smile. It had been a long night, but this coming day held the promise of being a very productive one.

----------------------------------------------------------

**District Attorney's Office**

**Manhattan**

"Thank you, John, Fin," Casey said. She had a broad grin on her face as she gazed at Claire Stephenson's picture on the photo ID of Coral Stevens. 'Got you now, bitch!'

"It was our extreme pleasure," Fin said. Both he and Munch looked a little tired, yet they were just as happy as Casey was.

"I hate to grab evidence and run," Casey said, as she picked up her bag from her desk, "but I've got a judge to see."

"Don't let us keep you," Munch told her. "The sooner you get the warrant, the sooner we can move in on the Wicked Witch of Park Avenue."

Casey burst into laughter as she left her office with the detectives. "That name really suits her! Just try not to use it in her presence…or in the presence of her attorney, for that matter."

"We promise!" Munch said, holding up his hand in the Boy Scout pledge.

Casey shook her head in embarrassment. "Sorry for being a hard-ass, guys, but this damn case has got me on edge! Now that we've finally got a solid lead, I don't want to jinx it. I'll see you two later?"

"You know where to find us," Fin said. "At the precinct."

"We'll catch a few winks in the crib, first," Munch said.

"You guys have been working all night!" Casey said with concern. "You're not going home?"

"And miss out on the take down of the Wicked Witch Of Park Avenue?" Munch asked, as if she were crazy. "Hell, no!"

"Damn straight," Fin said. "I'm even bringing a water pistol just in case she gets feisty."

"Good idea!" Munch told him. "It'll be fun to watch her melt underneath her pointy hat."

Casey was still chuckling when she arrived at Arthur Branch's office. She couldn't get the image of Claire Stephenson as the Wicked Witch from the Wizard Of Oz out of her mind, thanks to Munch and Fin. Branch's secretary gave her an odd look as she waved Casey into his office.

Before she entered, Casey made sure she wiped all traces of humor from her face. It wouldn't do for an Assistant District Attorney to be giggling like a schoolgirl while she explained the latest development in a case to her boss, no matter how good the news was.

Branch was on the phone when she walked up to the desk, yet he still motioned for her to take a seat. "Yeah," he said into the phone. "All right, Jack. Listen, be sure to let Green and Fontana know that if they need any help cutting through the red tape, to just give me a call. Right, talk to you soon."

Branch hung up the phone and then sat back in his seat with a weary expression. He sat there, deep in thought, for a few seconds until he suddenly remembered she was in the room. "Yes, Casey?"

'Something's wrong,' Casey realized. 'Another case must be going badly for him.' Casey often got so wrapped up in her own workload that she forgot that Branch had to juggle so many other cases that the D.A. office dealt with on a daily basis.

"I've got grounds for a warrant on Claire Stephenson's convict group, as well as her private property," Casey said. She went on to explain that Munch and Fin had found proof that she did know Charles Beauchamp, effectively catching her in a lie that she'd told to detectives. She concluded, "I'm headed out to the judge right now."

"That's great news, Casey," Branch said with not much enthusiasm. It was obvious that his other problem--whatever it was--still weighed heavily on his mind. "Get the warrants and then have your SVU people lean on Stephenson. Any word on Lilly Beauchamp's whereabouts?"

She shook her head. "I haven't heard any news yet."

"Well, we've got another problem," Branch said with a heavy sigh. "You know Alex Borgia, right? She's Jack's second chair."

"Yes, of course. I was speaking with her last night, when we were toasting Alex Cabot's return."

"Alex didn't show up for work today," Branch said grimly. "She never left a message, or anything. So I had a patrol check out her apartment, and it looks like it was broken into, with no sign of Alex. Green and Fontana, the detectives at the two-seven who are working the case, they think she might have been abducted."

"Oh my God!" Casey cried in horror. "Do they have any idea who might have done it?"

"Yeah. We think it may have something to do with one of Alex's prior cases," Branch said, with a sad shake of his head. "It looks like we're dealing with two kidnap cases, now: Lilly Beauchamp and Alex Borgia, one of our own."

Casey was too stunned for words. She stared down mutely at the paperwork in her hands. Despite the shock she felt for her colleague, a little voice at the back of her mind told Casey that she needed to get moving with the warrants. "Arthur, I'm sorry," she said sheepishly, "but I really have to get these before a judge…."

"Don't you be sorry," Branch firmly told her, as he leaned forward in his seat. "The business of this office must continue, no matter what happens. So you go right ahead; I'll keep you and everybody else appraised of the situation with Alex."

"Ok," Casey said as she turned and left his office. The shock of what he had just told her still didn't really sink in until something occurred to her. 'Sweet Jesus, I was just talking to Alex last night!' Casey realized with horror. 'Did she get abducted right after she came home from our party! God, just when I was beginning to think this would be a good day!'

Fin suddenly appeared at the far end of the hallway and waved to her. "Casey! You got a visitor!"

Casey gave at the SVU detective a puzzled look. "Since when did you start working the front desk of the D.A.'s office, Fin?"

"While we were on our way out, Munch and I ran into somebody who was waiting for you out front," Fin said. "It's Rachel Gibbons."

Just when Casey thought she couldn't be any further shocked than she had already been today, her jaw dropped open at the mention of that name. Rachel Gibbons was one of Charles Beauchamp's victims; like his other victims, Rachel had beentoo afraid of him to testify. "Did she say what she wanted?"

"Only to speak with you," Fin told her. "Munch and I brought them to your office."

"Them?" Casey asked, as she promptly did an abrupt 180 and walked back down the hallway to her office with Fin by her side

"Rachel's here with her mom," Fins said. "And the old lady don't look too happy about her being here, either!"

When she arrived at her office, Casey found Rachel sitting on the sofa with her mother, Myrna. Munch was seated in a chair opposite from them.

"Rachel, Myrna, hello!" Casey said, as she entered her office. She sat down in the seat that Munch quickly vacated for her. "I'm told you wanted to see me. What can I do for you?"

To look at Rachel Gibbons, one would never have guessed that she had been the victim of a brutal sexual assault. She was a lovely young woman in her early twenties with dark brown hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. Her black wire-rimmed glasses only added to Rachel's beauty, giving her pretty face a warm, gentle look of deep intelligence and sensitivity.

"You don't have to do this, Rachel!" Myrna said, obviously upset.

"Mom, please," Rachel pleaded in a pained tone of voice.

Casey leaned forward in her seat and gazed steadily at Rachel. "Do what?"

Rachel began to speak, until she began to tear up. Munch offered her a box of tissues, yet she rejected them. "That little girl, the one who had been kidnapped, Lilly Beauchamp," Rachel finally said.

"Yes?" Casey said. "What about her?"

"Charles Beauchamp is behind her abduction, isn't he?" Rachel asked, her voice trembling.

"He's a prime suspect," Casey replied. "We believe he's certainly involved."

"I-I want to testify against him in court," Rachel said. "About what he did to me."

"Rachel, think about what you're doing, here!" Myrna cried. "If he kidnapped that little girl, then he can kidnap you, too!"

Before Casey could step in, Rachel turned to her mother and shouted, "Charles Beauchamp tied me down to a bed, and he did whatever the hell he wanted to me, mother! For the better part of a day, I was nothing more than a _thing_ for him to use at his leisure!"

"Don't you think I know that, baby! I just--"

"No, mother, you _don't_ know!" Rachel said, with the firmness of steel in her voice. "I didn't stand up to him when I had the chance, and because of that, that poor little girl is now his latest victim! Charles Beauchamp thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants--even from jail--but he's dead wrong. He's got to be stopped, and if I have to be the one who does it, then so be it." Rachel then stared right at Casey and added, "Just tell me what to do, Casey, and I'll do it."

"Thank you so much, Rachel!" Casey said, and she meant it sincerely. In less than an hour, she'd received some serious ammunition to bring to bear against both Claire Stephenson and Charles Beauchamp.

'If this is any indication of how the rest of the day will go,' Casey thought, 'then I hope it means that Lilly and Alex Borgia will be all right!'

---------------------------------------------------------------

North Tommersing was a deceptively quiet upper middle class suburban town with well-kept houses on quiet, tree-lined streets. It was essentially a bedroom community, one of many that surrounded New York City in a broad radius that included the states of New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as Upstate New York. As Elliot drove through the streets, he noted that North Tommersing's peacefulness was in sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city.

But this peace and tranquility was shattered by the sight of a fleet of police cars parked in the street just ahead of them. A local police officer stood in front of the scene, directing traffic away from the area. Elliot wondered if the guy ever saw this much excitement in his entire career.

"Here it is," he told Olivia.

"Did they go in yet?" she asked frantically.

"We'll find out soon enough," Elliot replied, as he pulled the car up to the cop and showed him their police badges. Once the cop was satisfied they were NYPD, he waved them through.

Elliot parked the car a ways behind a SWAT truck. Then he got out, removed his suit jacket and threw it on the front seat. He walked around back to the trunk and grabbed the flak jackets. He handed one to Olivia, whom he noticed wore a black t-shirt with the word "GOAL!" written across the chest in bold white lettering. If the situation wasn't so dire, he would have made a joke about it.

Once they secured their flak jackets, Elliot scanned the crowd for Cragen. He found the SVU Captain speaking to a SWAT commander by a squad car. Once Cragen saw them, he glared at Olivia.

"What are you doing here?" he said to Olivia, who stared sheepishly at the ground. "Olivia, I thought I made it clear that--"

"I brought her," Elliot spoke up. "I figured she should be here, no matter what happens."

Cragen's intimidating glare now focused on Elliot. "Oh, really? Are you the new SVU commander, now?"

"No," Elliot said uneasily. "I just figured that when this is over, Lilly will need to see a friendly face. That's why I brought Liv."

To Elliot's surprise, after a brief hesitation, Cragen simply nodded his head and said, "All right. C'mon. We're about to go in."

Olivia exchanged an astonished look with Elliot as they followed Cragen over to the side of a delivery van. Cragen nodded at a two story home down the street and said, "That's where the phone call came from. We're waiting for the second squad to get in position at the back of the house."

Elliot stared at the house where Lilly was being held captive. It looked for all the world like a normal home in the suburbs. He hoped Lilly was all right.

'I guess we'll find out soon enough,' he thought grimly.

"Second team's in place," the SWAT commander told Cragen. "We're going in now."

The SWAT commander made a hand gesture, and then he and his black-garbed men started running down the street at a full run, their weapons at the ready, their faces hidden by the masks they wore under their helmets. Cragen, Elliot and Olivia followed close behind them, being careful not to get in their way.

No sooner did they hit the front porch then two of the advance team of SWAT team members crashed through the front door, using a battering ram. Once the door was open, they all flowed inside, and Elliot suddenly heard men shouting loudly.

"GET DOWN! GET DOWN ON THE FUCKING FLOOR!"

"DON'T SHOOT, PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME!"

When Elliot entered the house with Olivia by his side, he saw several men lying facedown on the floor of the living room, being frisked by their SWAT captors. A second company of SWAT members ran upstairs at a full clip. The house was unfurnished, save for a flimsy card table, some folding chairs and several rolled up sleeping bags.

"Where's the girl?" Olivia asked the captured men on the floor.

"What girl?" one of them asked.

"Dunno what you're talking about, officer," another said smugly.

When he heard more yelling upstairs, Elliot grabbed Olivia's arm and said, "C'mon. She may be up there."

They ran upstairs and saw that the second SWAT team had grabbed another man, who was on the floor and in the process of being handcuffed.

"Where's Lilly Beauchamp?" Elliot asked him.

"Who?" the man replied. "There ain't nobody by that name here."

It took everything Elliot had just to keep from kicking the bastard in the ribs. "You know who the hell I'm talking about! Lilly made a phone call from this very house!"

"The rest of the second floor is clear," a SWAT member told him. "No sign of the kid anywhere."

"Fuck this," Olivia muttered. She went to the center of the hallway, raised her face to the ceiling and, shouted, "LILLY! It's Olivia! If you're here, honey, let us know!"

There was nothing but silence for the next few seconds as everyone listened for the slightest sound.

The handcuffed man began to chortle. He knelt on the floor with his hands cuffed behind him. "I told ya, there ain't nobody here by that--"

"SHUT UP!" Elliot said right in his face. Turning to the SWAT team members, he said, "Get this piece of shit out of here!"

"Let's go," one of the SWAT members ordered, as they hauled the man to his feet and down the steps.

Cragen, who was making his way up the stairs, paused to let them pass before he continued. Once he reached Elliot and Olivia, he said, "The entire downstairs, the basement, and even the garage out back have been checked: no sign of Lilly. Is she up here?"

Elliot was about to answer in the negative until Olivia firmly said, "Yes. She's here, somewhere."

Olivia sounded so confident about that fact that it puzzled Elliot. "How do you know?" he asked.

"Trust me, Elliot," Olivia told him. Once again, she raised her head, and--at the top of her lungs--shouted: "LILLY!"

Just when Elliot was about to suggest another tactic, he heard a faint sound. It sounded muffled, as if it came from through a wall, or the ceiling. "You hear that?" he whispered to Cragen.

"Yes," Cragen replied, his eyes wide.

"LILLY?" Olivia shouted once more. "Lilly, honey, are you here!"

They all waited in silence. Elliot never even realized he was holding his breath until he let out a gasp.

And then they heard it.

"Olivia…?" a little girl's voice said weakly.

**To Be Continued...**


	10. Chapter 10

"Olivia…?" Lilly called.

Olivia stared at the wall right next to her. There was no doubt in her mind that Lilly was on the other side of it.

"HERE!" Olivia cried. "SHE'S IN HERE!"

Cragen came over and carefully scanned the wall. "How do we get on the other side? Could it be some sort of hidden passageway?"

"If that's the case, then there's got to be a latch, or a switch of some kind around here that opens it," Elliot said.

"There's definitely a hidden room in here," one of the SWAT team members said from within the bedroom.

When Olivia joined him in the bedroom, he pointed at the wall with a black-gloved hand. "This part of the wall's further out than normal, see? There's another room back here."

There was a floor to ceiling length mirror on the wall. 'That might be a way in,' she thought hopefully. Olivia walked up to the mirror and called Lilly's name once more. "Lilly, if you're behind here, call out right now!"

"Yes, I'm here!" she cried, her voice sounding louder now.

Elliot came over and began to feel around the edges of the mirror. When Olivia realized he was searching for a switch or latch of some kind, she joined in, feeling along the edges of the mirror on the other side, until her fingers found a latch.

She pulled on it, and the mirror opened at one end like a door.

Olivia was the first one inside the stuffy, narrow room, which looked like a walk-in closet. She hesitated when she saw Lilly. The girl lay on the floor on her side, with her back facing Olivia.

And she lay so still.

'Oh, no, please, let her be all right,' Olivia thought, as she ran over to Lilly and bent down beside the girl.

Still clad in the clothes she wore yesterday, Lilly's wrists and ankles were bound together with duct tape.

"Hey, you…." Olivia said, hoping Lilly would respond.

Lilly raised her head with some effort and smiled weakly at Olivia. "Hey, you, too!"

Olivia was stunned at the sight of the massive, swollen bruise that Lilly had on her head, just above her left eye. 'They hit her,' Olivia thought, as she quickly became filled with a seething rage. 'These rat-fuck-scumbag-bastards hit Lilly!'

She carefully picked Lilly up in her arms and carried her out of the cramped, stifling room. Olivia kneeled down in the empty bedroom, still cradling Lilly in her arms, where she allowed the SWAT commander to cut Lilly's bonds with a knife while Cragen called into the hallway for paramedics.

With her hands free, Lilly wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck in a warm hug. "I knew you'd come," Lilly whispered in Olivia's ear. "Mr. Childs got angry at me for saying so, but I knew you'd come for me, Liv."

"Did Mr. Childs hit you?" Olivia asked in a whisper.

"Yes, he hit me," Lilly said with a groan. "It still hurts, Liv!"

When the paramedics arrived with a stretcher, Olivia was extremely reluctant to let go of Lilly--she never wanted to let the little girl out of her embrace again--but the practical side of her realized that Lilly needed medical attention and so she released the girl to them.

While Lilly got checked out by the paramedics, Olivia remained kneeling on the floor, feeling elated, drained, and enraged all at the same time. Elliot came over and affectionately squeezed her shoulders. "You ok?" he said in her ear.

Olivia got to her feet and very calmly said, "I'm fine. But Samuel Childs won't be."

"Liv," Elliot called after her, but Olivia ignored him as she left the bedroom and went down the stairs. When she emerged in the living room, Olivia headed over to where the kidnappers had been rounded up. They all sat on the floor with their hands cuffed behind their backs. As Olivia approached them, she flicked off the strap that held her gun in its holster.

Olivia was just about to pull her gun from its holster when a pair of muscular arms grabbed her from behind and hauled her into the next room.

"Elliot, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Olivia said angrily, as she struggled to get out of his grip.

"What am _I_ doing?" Elliot said, with a bitter laugh. "The fuck you think _you're_ doing, Liv?"

"I was just going to talk to Samuel Childs," Olivia replied. "Now let go of me."

"He's not here," Elliot said, as he released her.

"What?"

"Samuel Childs isn't among the kidnappers we captured today," Elliot said with a grim shake of his head. "Why were you un-holstering your gun?"

Olivia let out a deep exhale. With Samuel Childs' absence, the blood-crazed fury that she felt towards him had now subsided within her, and Olivia actually felt a little awkward at having flown off the handle like that. All she could say was: "He hit her, Elliot. The bastard hit Lilly."

"I know he did," Elliot said. "And I want that scumbag just as much as you do. But we'll get him, Liv. It's just a matter of time, now. He's running out of places to hide."

Olivia glanced over and saw the paramedics carrying Lilly down the stairs in the stretcher, aided by several SWAT team members.

"They're taking Lilly to the hospital," Elliot said. "Go with her, Olivia. She needs a friendly face with her right now."

Olivia started to walk over to Lilly when she stopped, glanced back at Elliot, and said, "Hey…thanks."

He nodded. "I'll talk to you later."

"Liv!" Lilly cried out from her stretcher.

"I'm coming, honey!" Olivia called, as she caught up with the paramedics. She walked alongside Lilly, and added, "I'm coming with you to the hospital, ok? I'll be with you all the way."

"Sorry, you can't ride along," one of the paramedics told Olivia. "There won't be enough room for you in the ambulance."

"That's too damn bad," Olivia told him, in a dangerous tone of voice. She glanced at the ambulance, which was parked right outside; the damned thing was practically a house on wheels with room enough in back for more than a half dozen people. "Because I'm coming with her, whether you like it or not!"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," the paramedic muttered, red-faced. Olivia didn't know if he was embarrassed or angry at having to back down. And she didn't really care.

Lilly's stretcher was placed on board the ambulance, and Olivia sat down on the bench across from her. Lilly reached out and grabbed Olivia's hand, holding it tightly in her own.

"As soon as we find out what hospital we're going to, I'll call your mom," Olivia promised the girl.

They rode on to the hospital for the new few minutes holding each other's hand, both completely content, as they listened to the wailing of the ambulance's siren.

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"This is in regard to the Lilly Beauchamp kidnapping?" Judge Turhune asked, as he looked up from the paperwork that had been spread out on his desk.

"Yes, sir, it is," Casey replied. "Claire Stephenson swore to two of my detectives that she never met Charles Beauchamp. However, as you can see there, Ms. Stephenson took a class that Mr. Beauchamp taught, using an alias."

"So she did meet Beauchamp after all," Turhune said.

"Yes, Your Honor. We caught her in a lie--which, we believe, merits further investigation of Claire Stephenson's background and finances."

Casey was on pins and needles as she watched Turhune examine with a critical eye the paperwork that she had presented him. 'Did I get everything right?' she nervously wondered. 'I didn't miss anything, did I? Oh, please, please, please…just sign the damn warrants!'

"Very well, Ms. Novak," Turhune finally said, as he signed the papers. "A little girl's life is at stake here, and if these warrants can help you find her faster, then I'm all for it."

'Oh, thank Christ!' Casey thought, as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"It's nothing," he said with a wave of his hand. "Good luck in finding that little girl."

"This'll be a big help, Judge," Casey replied, as she collected the papers from his desk and put them into her briefcase. "Thanks again!"

Before she left his office, Turhune called, "Oh, Casey! One more thing."

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"I just wanted to say how sorry I am about the situation with Ms. Borgia," Turhune said. "My prayers are with her, her family, and with all of you in the D.A.'s office for her safe return."

That hit Casey like a sledgehammer. "Thank you, sir," she replied, deeply touched. "I appreciate it."

The fact of the matter was she had been so wrapped up in getting the warrants for the Beauchamp case that Casey didn't have much time to give any thought to poor Alex Borgia. In a way she was grateful to be keeping so busy, or else she would have gone nuts just thinking about what Alex might be going through right now. As it was, it took everything Casey had just to keep from worrying about poor Lilly twenty four-seven.

As she descended the steps outside the courthouse, Casey paused to pull out her cell phone, which had begun ringing. Her eyes grew wide when she saw on the screen that it was Elliot who was calling her.

She answered the call. "Yeah, El, what's up?"

"We got her," he said simply. "We just raided the kidnappers' house, and we got Lilly. She's safe; Liv's riding with her to the hospital right now. Casey? Case, you there?"

But Casey was too busy at that moment to respond right away. She stood on the courthouse steps pumping her fist in the air and shouting "YES!" at the top of her lungs. Casey's joyful actions caused those around her on the steps to give this obviously insane woman a wide berth as they exited and entered the courthouse.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olivia paced back and forth in the waiting room until her legs got too tired, so she sat down in one of the plush chairs. But then she began to fidget anxiously, until her nervous energy caused her to get back up again and pace around the empty waiting room once more. She had been with Lilly all the while since they first arrived at the hospital. But now they were taking her to get some scans done of her head, and the doctor had asked Olivia to wait outside like an expectant parent. She was so busy pacing around the waiting room that she barely noticed the doctor standing there until he cleared his throat.

"How is she?" Olivia asked, as she ran to over him.

"She's fine," the doctor assured her. "She doesn't have a concussion, like we'd originally feared. We'd still like to keep her here overnight, just to be on the safe side. We're putting her in a room right now. Once she's settled in, we let you know where she is."

Olivia let out a sigh of relief. "That's great news."

"She's a tough little kid," the doctor said with genuine admiration.

"Oh, God, you've no idea," Olivia told him. "The things that poor girl's been through would have been enough to break any adult--myself included--but she's come through it all with flying colors."

The doctor gazed at Olivia with the same level of appreciation. "If I'm out of bounds, just say so, but I get the feeling that Lilly means more to you than just another case, Detective Benson."

Olivia felt her cheeks blush. "Uh, yeah," she admitted, with a slight smile. "Lilly and I have become very close. It's not very professional of me, but--"

"On the contrary, you're a credit to the police department," the doctor said, as he left the waiting room. "Just stay here; somebody will be by to let you know where Lilly's room is."

Just as Olivia was still reeling from the doctor's kind remark, she was further stunned when an old woman abruptly came up and hugged her tightly. The elderly woman was at least a foot shorter than Olivia, who could only see the top of her silver-haired head when she glanced down with a shocked look.

"Bless you, bless you," the old woman muttered, over and over, like a chant, as she continued to tightly hug Olivia. "Bless you...bless you...bless you."

"Um, excuse me," Olivia said, with as much dignity as she could muster with this woman's arms wrapped around her body. "Uh, ma'am? Ma'am, excuse me? Do I know you?"

Linda Beauchamp came around the corner with her parents and her police escort. "Grandma!" she called to the old woman. "There you are!"

"Come on, Ma," Linda's mother said, as she and Linda's father gently pulled the old woman away, "let Detective Benson catch her breath!"

'That's Lilly's great-grandmother!' Olivia realized with awe. She'd heard Lilly and Linda speak lovingly of her, and how although she was well into her nineties, she still had the vitality of a young woman. Even though she was now being dragged away from Olivia, she kept saying, "Bless you, dear! Bless you!"

Linda came over to Olivia and they hugged briefly. "How's Lilly? Is she all right?"

Olivia filled them in on what the doctor had told her. "They're keeping her overnight, but that's just a precaution. I'm just waiting to hear what room they've got her in."

Now it was Linda's mother's turn to give Olivia a hug. "Thank you so much, Detective Benson!"

"We appreciate all that you've done for us," Linda's father added.

"Yes," Linda's grandmother chimed in. "Bless you! Bless you!"

Olivia shook her head. "Thank you. But it was really Lilly who saved herself. She called 911, which enabled us to trace the call and find her. She's such a brave little girl."

A nurse entered the waiting room and told them where Lilly's room was. It was in another wing on the same floor. When Olivia walked into the room, she found Lilly sitting up in bed with her head bandaged. She was clad in a hospital gown, her legs covered with the bed sheet, and happily eating a bowl of Jell-O that had been set on a table before her along with a carton of fruit juice.

Linda let out a shriek of joy upon seeing her daughter alive and well once again. Lilly quickly forgot the Jell-O as she gave her mother a hug, and then hugged her grandparents and great-grandmother.

Olivia, standing by the doorway, held back from joining in the reunion. This was a special occasion for Lilly, and she deserved to celebrate it with just her family.

A hand gently touched her shoulder, and Olivia was pleased to see Elliot standing in the doorway. He gestured for her to join him in the hallway. Once they were well outside of earshot of everyone in the room, Elliot asked, "How is she?"

"It looks very good," Olivia replied. "There's no sign of a concussion, or anything other major problem. There's also no sexual abuse, thank God."

Elliot nodded. "That's great. I've got some news for you. We did a search of the immediate neighborhood, but couldn't find Samuel Childs. So we've got roadblocks set up all over--the county and state police are working with us to cordon off the entire area within a fifty mile radius. If Childs tries to jump on the Interstate, or any other highway, we'll know about it."

"That's assuming he's not already out of the country by now," Olivia said grimly.

"I doubt it," Elliot said. "We caught them with their pants down, Liv. Childs was probably out running an errand when we hit the place. He may still be in the area, trying to lay low. But that's going to be hard for him to do, now that every cop out there has his picture."

Olivia's stomach growled loudly just then, reminding her that she'd not had anything to eat since she woke up several hours ago.

Elliot smiled at her. "I take it you haven't eaten in a while?"

"Yeah, that would be a good guess," she sardonically replied. Olivia's eyes went wide when she reached down for her money--only to realize that, in her haste to leave her apartment earlier today, she had completely forgotten it. "And I don't have any way to pay for it! Damn! Hey, you think you could lend me some cash for the cafeteria?"

"Fuck that," Elliot said with a wave of his hand. "There's an IHOP right up the street. C'mon, I'll buy you breakfast."

Olivia's stomach rumbled loudly in response; apparently it really liked that idea. "Thanks," she said. "Let's tell Linda where we'll be."

When they went back in Lilly's room to inform them that they were going out to eat, Olivia was treated to a humorous moment when she introduced Elliot to Linda's grandmother. Elliot had a startled look on his face as the old woman embraced him tightly and said, "Bless you, bless you!"

Once again, it took Linda's parents to pull the old woman off of Elliot. When he was finally free, and they were on their way down the hallway, Olivia said, "Looks like you've got a new friend, El."

"That old lady's got a killer grip," Elliot commented with a smile. "They could use her in the lock up at the one six. She could wrestle surly perps to the floor with no problem!"

Olivia couldn't help but be in a good mood as she and Elliot drove over to the International House Of Pancakes restaurant. The fact that Samuel Childs had escaped them still stuck in her craw. But the important thing to focus on was that fact that Lilly was finally safe and sound. Childs may still be on the loose, but he was now a desperate fugitive on the run who no longer had a hostage to hide behind. 'The walls are closing in on him,' Olivia realized as she and Elliot got out of the car in the IHOP parking lot. 'And I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now!'

Once they entered the restaurant, Olivia and Elliot were greeted with a long line of people who were waiting to be seated. "Well, we've got no place else to be right now," Olivia said to Elliot with a shrug, as they took their place as the last two in line.

Elliot flashed her a broad grin. "I've just got to say, Liv, that that shirt you've got on is really appropriate for the events of this day."

Olivia glanced down and saw that she still wore the t-shirt with "GOAL!" written across the chest. She rolled her eyes in mock disgust and was about to respond with a snippy remark, when something caught her attention.

It was the sound of a man's voice. There were a bank of pay phones off to the side of where they stood waiting for a table, and Olivia heard a man deep in conversation on one of the phones.

"I need to know now," he said with some urgency. "No, I need to know right now! Look, I'm in deep shit here…."

Olivia's eyes grew very wide as she felt her heart begin to pound, and the adrenaline flowed through her body, preparing her for battle. It wasn't what the man said that alarmed her. It was his voice; she recognized it. The day before, in the schoolyard, when Olivia was fighting desperately to keep Lilly from being kidnapped, she had raised her gun and yelled "Freeze!"

Then a ski mask-clad man raised an Uzi in response and replied, "Freeze this, bitch!"

Olivia would never forget that bastard's voice for as long as she lived, and she heard it once more right now. It was the exact same voice speaking on the phone right behind her.

Elliot, sensing something was wrong, gently grabbed her arm. "What is it?" he whispered.

"This guy on the phone behind us," she whispered into his ear, "he sounds exactly like the scumbag who shot at me in the schoolyard yesterday."

Elliot glanced over her shoulder at the man. "You sure?"

"Positive," she said firmly. "I'd stake my life on this, El."

"Oh, yeah?" the man said behind her on the phone. "Yeah, well, fuck you. Fuck you very much!"

When she heard him hang up the phone, Olivia glanced over her shoulder--and when she did, she received a further shock.

Olivia found herself staring right into the face of Samuel Childs.

**To be continued...**


	11. Chapter 11

"This guy on the phone behind us," Olivia whispered into Elliot's ear, "he sounds exactly like the scumbag who shot at me in the schoolyard yesterday."

Elliot glanced over her shoulder at the tall, bulky man, who shook his head as he spoke into the phone. "You sure?" Elliot asked her.

"Positive," she said firmly. "I'd stake my life on this, El."

"Oh, yeah?" the man abruptly said into the phone. "Yeah, well, fuck you. Fuck you very much!"

When the man turned away from the pay phone, Elliot got a good look at his face, and what he saw chilled his blood. He recognized that face from the photo ID sent to them from Riker's Island. It was Samuel Childs.

Unfortunately Childs saw them right away. And judging from the wide-eyed look he gave Olivia, he recognized her, as well. Elliot glanced down and saw a gun sticking out of Childs' waistband.

'Shit, he's armed,' Elliot thought. He glanced around at the long line of people who were waiting to be seated in the IHOP restaurant. Elliot realized with a growing dread that this was a situation that could very rapidly deteriorate at any second.

Both Olivia and Childs stood there, glaring at each other, each frozen for a spilt second. And in that scary moment, Elliot made a decision.

'Make the first move,' Elliot told himself, as he reached for his Glock. 'And if he tries to shoot anybody, then gun him down like the dog that he is.'

"Police!" Elliot yelled, aiming his Glock at Childs. Olivia also pulled her piece out of its holster at the same time. "Don't make a--"

Before Elliot could finish his command, Childs broke into a run, shoving people out of his way as he ran out the restaurant.

"He's running!" Olivia shouted, as she gave chase.

'At least we're no longer standing in the middle of a group of innocent people,' Elliot thought as he ran after Childs with her.

When they reached the doorway, both he and Olivia paused to warily glance around the parking lot, making sure that Childs wasn't waiting out there for them with his gun drawn. 'This bastard had no qualms about shooting at cops before,' Elliot thought, 'so better safe than sorry.'

After a quick scan of the parking lot, Elliot and Olivia determined that Childs wasn't here. Elliot glanced off to their right, and saw Childs running into the parking lot of the strip mall. "There he is, Liv!"

Elliot took off after Childs, who appeared to be looking for a car to steal. Elliot felt a chill run up his spine when Childs approached a young mother pushing a baby carriage. But the woman, sensing Childs was trouble, grabbed her baby from the carriage and ran frantically in the opposite direction from him.

Childs started to run after her until Elliot shouted, "CHILDS!"

Childs whirled around to face him just as Elliot ran up with his gun pointed at him. "Give it up, Childs," Elliot told him. "You're not going anywhere! Even if you manage get out of this parking lot, you still won't get far. Every cop in New York State is now looking for you. Put your hands behind your head and kneel on the ground. Do it!"

As he glared back at Elliot, Childs' hand hovered dangerously over the gun in his waistband.

"Don't even think about it, Childs!" Elliot warned him. "Don't go for that gun!"

Olivia came up alongside Elliot and took aim with her Glock at Childs. "Oh, by all means, go for the gun," she told Childs in an eerily calm voice. "Give me the excuse I need to blow you the fuck away right here and now."

Childs' eyes went wide at what Olivia said, as well as the deadly tone of her voice, and he promptly raised his hands in surrender. "Whoa! All right, you've got me. I give up."

"Hands behind your head and kneel on the ground, now!" Elliot ordered.

Childs did exactly what he was told. As Olivia covered him with her Glock, Elliot went over, pulled the gun from Childs' waist, and then cuffed his hands behind his back.

He was reading Childs his Miranda Rights when a local police car pulled up to them with its roof light bar flashing. After Elliot and Olivia identified themselves as NYPD, the police officer gladly placed the captured Childs in the back seat of his squad car.

Olivia's stomach let out another growl as she holstered her gun, which reminded Elliot that they had been going to get something to eat before running into Childs. "Sorry Liv," he said, "but it looks like breakfast will have to be postponed for a bit."

"I don't mind," Olivia said. She gestured at the captured Childs in the squad car, and added, "This was well worth missing breakfast for."

Elliot nodded. "Great job on that bluff, by the way. You had me convinced." When she gave him a puzzled look, Elliot explained: "When you told Childs to go for the gun, so you'd have an excuse to blow him away? You were bluffing when you said that, right?"

Olivia's mouth merely curled up into a Cheshire cat-like grin as she slowly turned and walked away from him.

Elliot couldn't help but smile in admiration at her.

-------------------------------------------------------

When Casey arrived at the D.A.'s office, she made a beeline straight for her own office, hoping that Rachel Gibbons was still there. She'd left Rachel and her mother in the care of Munch and Fin, and Rachel had been pretty determined to face Beauchamp in court--yet Casey had witnesses back out on her in the past. And while she was busy building up evidence against Beauchamp and his bizarre suitor Claire Stephenson on her own, Casey still needed all the help she could get.

On her way down the hallway, Casey ran into Alex Cabot, who was on her way out. Casey wondered if Alex had heard any news about their abducted colleague Alex Borgia. But before she could ask, Cabot asked the very same question: "Have you heard anything new about Alex?"

"No," Casey said sadly. "In fact, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Alex shook her head. "It's horrible, isn't it? I heard she was abducted right from her home!"

"Oh, God," Casey said.

"This sort of thing just makes you want to pull all of your friends close together," Alex said. "You don't want to let anybody you care about out of your sight for even a second. I recall feeling this way during 9/11."

Casey nodded--as what Alex just said reminded her of something that Elliot told her last night. He said that Olivia was hurt by the fact that Alex had never contacted her yet. "Um, speaking of which, Alex, have you spoken to anybody at the one-six since you got back, yet?"

"No, I haven't had the time," Alex replied with a frown. "But I'm headed in their general direction this afternoon. I was thinking of just popping in and saying hello."

Casey nodded with a smile. "That'll be great. Listen, as usual, I've got a hundred things to do right now. Speak to you later?"

"You bet," Alex replied, as she continued walking down the hallway.

'Well, at least she's finally going to see Olivia,' Casey thought. She wondered if things would ever be the same between them again, especially since Olivia was now seeing Eric.

Her idle musings about Olivia Benson's love life ended once Casey arrived at her office. She was pleased to see Rachel and her mother were still there, along with Munch and Fin. When she handed the SVU detectives the signed warrants, Fin smiled and said, "Oh-ho! This is gonna be fun."

"Yeah, well try not to be too overjoyed with your work while you're tearing Stephenson's house and business apart," Casey told them. "That sort of thing looks tacky."

"We'll keep the snickering down to a minimum," Munch promised as he and Fin exited her office with the warrants in hand.

When Casey turned to Rachel and her mother, she was pleased to see that Rachel still had that same level of determination in her eyes as before.

"So tell me what I need to do," Rachel said.

"With pleasure," Casey sincerely said, as she sat down across from her.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Olivia let out a heavy sigh as she and Elliot finally arrived back at the One-Six. As soon as she got out of the car, she opened the back seat door and helped the handcuffed Samuel Childs out.

As she escorted him up the main steps of the One-Six, Olivia glanced up to see a news photographer step right in their way. His flashbulb lit up several times as he snapped off a few pictures of Olivia and Childs.

Then a mob of reporters came rushing up to them, all shouting, "Detective Benson! Detective Benson, over here!"

Elliot went ahead of her, making a hole in the clamoring crowd for Olivia as she continued to grimly escort Childs into the precinct house.

A female reporter shoved her microphone into Olivia's face and asked, "Is the Lilly Beauchamp kidnapping case now closed, Olivia?"

"No comment," Olivia muttered, as she gratefully entered the main doorway of the precinct house. The reporters didn't dare enter the building.

And yet, just as Olivia walked inside, she heard another female reporter shout out to her: "Detective Benson, what's your beauty secret!"  
Olivia didn't even bother to acknowledge the twit, but she burst into laughter when Elliot glanced over his shoulder and shot the reporter a strange look. "She must be from the Fashion Channel," he jokingly said.

They brought Childs upstairs to the SVU squad room, where they placed him in an interrogation room and removed his handcuffs. Then they left him alone in there. As much as Olivia wanted to dig into Childs, there was a science to this sort of thing. They decided that it was best to let Childs sweat it out for a spell before they began grilling him.

When Olivia and Elliot entered Cragen's office, they found the Captain standing by the two-way mirror, gazing intently at Childs in the interrogation room. "Did he ask for a lawyer?" Cragen asked.

Elliot shook his head. "Not yet."

Cragen nodded, looking thoughtful. "Leave him alone with his thoughts for a while before you start questioning him."

"That was the plan," Olivia said. "We've also sent his gun out for a ballistics test."

"Good," Cragen said, as he went back behind his desk. "Munch and Fin are presently making Claire Stephenson's life miserable. Casey got the warrants to search her home and business."

Before Olivia could reply, there was a light knock at the door. Her eyes grew wide in shock when she saw the same two IAB detectives who interrogated her yesterday standing in the doorway of Cragen's office.

"You ready, Captain?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," Cragen said. "Go ahead."

When the IAB men left, Olivia glanced nervously back and forth from Elliot's concerned face to Cragen. She suddenly had a crazy impulse to run for her life out the door.

Cragen quickly came over and gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Relax, Olivia, they're not here for you."

"Then why are they here?" Elliot asked.

"Remember I told you that the fire in the evidence room was arson?" Cragen asked Elliot. He gestured out the door. "The IAB, working with the FDNY, found the arsonist. Here he comes, now."

The IAB detectives escorted a uniformed officer into Cragen's office. Olivia was shocked to see that it was Aaron Nuffield, a rookie who was in charge of the evidence room during the night shift.

They brought Nuffield up to the two-way mirror that offered a view of Samuel Childs in the interrogation room. One of the IAB men said, "Officer Nuffield, do you recognize the gentleman seated in that room?"

"Yeah," Nuffield said, his voice tinged with sadness. "That's the guy who paid me to torch the evidence room."

"Ok," the other IAB man said, as he produced a pair of handcuffs and put them on Nuffield. "Let's go."

Olivia watched in stunned shock as the IAB detectives grimly led the disgraced police officer out the door. She was torn between the horror of seeing a fellow NYPD officer brought down so humbly, and the raging anger that came from the realization that he was the one who destroyed a roomful of evidence--effectively throwing all of their cases into turmoil--just for a quick, illicit profit.

"So now we've got Childs for conspiracy to commit arson," Cragen said. "You think you can use it to make him roll on Claire Stephenson?"

"I'd rather wait until we hear back on the gun," Elliot said. "If Childs' gun turns out to be the one used to kill Marcus Sewell, that'll be all the more ammo that Liv and I can use against him in the Box."

"That's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Cragen said. He turned to Olivia and added., "You're not talking to Childs. It's going to be Elliot and someone else, either Munch or Fin."

Olivia glared at Cragen. "Captain--"

"I know how you feel about this, Olivia, and I'm sorry," Cragen said. "You were a huge help in finding Lilly and keeping her calm. And you and Elliot just did a great job in capturing Childs. I'm now glad that Elliot brought you along with us this morning, I really am. But the situation is still the same. You're too close to this case. Now that Lilly's safe, I want you to back off."

Olivia glanced at Elliot and saw that he stared uneasily at the floor. And in that instant, she realized that Cragen was right. 'If I remain as one of the prime detectives on this case, my very presence might make it harder for Casey to prosecute it down the line,' she realized. 'The defendants' lawyers could very well use me in their defense, claiming that I was after Beauchamp for personal reasons--which isn't too far from the truth.'

"I understand," she said. "The last thing I want to do is to become a hindrance to this case."

Olivia went to get something to eat at the vending machines while Elliot sat down at his desk to begin writing the arrest report. As Olivia looked over her choices--slim though as they were--it occurred to her that she actually never had any choice in the matter. Cragen was her commanding officer, after all, and whatever he said was law, whether Olivia liked it or not. Yet the Captain's command style was such that he made it appear that they were all a team, a part of a larger family who each had a say in the goings-on.

'And every now and then, dad just has to put his foot down and say no,' Olivia thought, with a slight smile. It often seemed silly to Olivia to think of Cragen as being the father whom she never had, but that was the honest truth. He was a man whom she respected and cared enough for to listen to when he told her to do something.

Speaking of men whom she respected and cared for, Olivia abruptly realized that she had not spoken to poor Eric in almost a full day now. She had meant to call him last night, but forgot all about it.

'Damn it,' Olivia thought, as she pulled out her cell. 'I should give him--'

"Hello Olivia," a very familiar female voice said from behind her.

Olivia was startled out of her reverie. She spun around and saw Alex Cabot staring back at her with a broad smile on her face.

"Alex," Olivia said in a surprised whisper.

"Oh God, you look great," Alex said, as she came over and warmly embraced Olivia.

'My Alex,' Olivia thought, as she returned the embrace. 'My Alex is back….'

"It's great seeing you again," Olivia said, when they ended their hug. "Especially knowing that you're back home to stay, now. God, that's so amazing."

"Yeah, but with the way thing are going lately, I'm starting to miss being in Witness Protection," Alex said with a nervous laugh.

Olivia knew her well enough to know there was something wrong. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's nothing I can't handle," Alex told her with false bravado. "Besides, you've got so much on your plate now, what with the Beauchamp kidnapping and everything else. Congratulations, by the way! I just heard about Lilly being rescued."

"Thanks," Olivia said. She couldn't help but notice the anxious pitch in Alex's voice. 'Something's really got her rattled,' she realized. "Are you sure you're all right, Alex? You seem…I don't know, a little wound up."

Alex appeared as if she were about to burst into tears. "I-I think I'm a little overwhelmed right now. Um, Alex Borgia has been kidnapped."

"Sweet Jesus!" Olivia said in a horrified whisper. "When did this happen?"

"Just this morning," Alex replied, shaking her head. "She never showed up for work, and when a patrol car was sent to her home…well, it looked like it had been broken into. Green and Fontana from the Two-Seven are working the case."

"I know them, I've worked with them before," Olivia said. "They're very good, Alex. Green used to partner with Lennie Briscoe."

Alex nodded anxiously as she stared timidly at Olivia.

'There's still something wrong,' Olivia realized, 'and it's more than just having the jitters from coming back to work.' She placed a hand on Alex's arm and said, "You're not upset because of seeing me, are you?"

Alex smiled slightly. "You always were able to read me like a book, Olivia. But to answer your question: no. I'm not upset at seeing you again. I'm upset at what I have to tell you. I'm engaged, Olivia."

"Alex, that's wonderful," Olivia said, forcing herself to smile. Deep within, she felt her heart break into a million pieces. Although she realized that this day would come, Olivia never really thought about actually having to face it until this moment.

When Alex had come out of the Witness Protection Program last year to testify against her would-be assassin, they had managed to spend a stolen night together. After they made love--which would now turn out to be for the last time--they spoke of the fact that Alex would have to go back into protection soon, and that they would once more be parted. Alex had told Olivia at the time that if she ever met someone, that Olivia should just take advantage of it. "I'll understand, Olivia," she said. "I can't expect you to wait for me your entire life."

Olivia had understood the implications of their agreement, as well. Yet even when Olivia had met Eric, she realized now that she really had kept him at arm's length all this time. Eric was a nice, decent man, yet Olivia had just thought of him as being a casual boyfriend at best. Because, deep down, she was still waiting for Alex.

Until now.

'It's over. It's really over,' Olivia realized with sadness. 'She's no longer my Alex. She belongs to somebody else, now.'

"Are you sure it's all right?" Alex asked, watching her carefully.

"Of course it is, sweetie," Olivia said, as they embraced once again. "I've moved on, as well. And as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

She felt Alex's entire body abruptly go stiff, and when she glanced at Alex, Olivia saw she was staring fearfully at something over her shoulder. "This guy's staring at us really hard, Liv."

When Olivia glared at the man, she was shocked to see that it was none other than Eric. He stood there, staring stunned at the both of them. "Eric, hi!" she said, waving him over. "Come meet Alex."

But Eric remained where he was, and the look he gave Olivia was so malice-filled that, if looks could kill, she would have been decapitated right then and there.

"You fucking bitch," he said under his breath.

Then he turned around and left them, walking briskly down the hallway.

Olivia was so stunned at his reaction that it took her a few moments to react. When she finally snapped out of her shock, she glanced at Alex and said, "I'll talk to you later."

"Of course," Alex replied, now looking even more uneasy than she had been before.

Olivia ran after Eric, but did not find him at the elevator. When she saw the stairwell door swing shut, she realized that he took the stairs.

When she entered the stairwell, Olivia could hear Eric's stomping feet descending a few levels below her. She stuck her head over the railing and shouted his name, but when he would not stop, she ran down the stairs after him.

She caught up with Eric just outside the precinct house. Thankfully, the army of reporters had vanished. Olivia finally made him stop when she grabbed his sleeve and pulled on it.

"Let go of me!" he shouted at her.

"Eric, what is it?" Olivia asked, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong--at least for you, Olivia," Eric said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't let me disturb the reunion between you and your little blond bitch."

With that, he spun on his heel and left her standing there on the sidewalk, with her mouth gaping at what he'd just said. After several moments of stunned silence, Olivia shook her head in disbelief.

"What the hell just happened?" she said, to nobody in particular.

**To Be Continued...**


	12. Chapter 12

"This is outrageous!" Claire Stephenson cried.

The army of police officers and CSU technicians who were busy turning her home upside-down ignored her, save for Munch. He shook his head and said, "Actually what's really outrageous is the décor in your living room. It looks like Dr. Seuss on acid! I really hope you didn't pay somebody to design that place for you."

"Just goes to show that all the money in the world can't buy good taste," Fin muttered, as he strolled past Munch.

"What was that?" Claire shouted haughtily after Fin. "What was that remark! You, there! Repeat what you just said!"

Munch rolled his eyes in disgust behind his sunglasses. 'Her royal majesty is displeased!' he thought with distain. He had originally been looking forward to this search of Stephenson's house, figuring it would rattle this frosty ice queen. But the battleaxe proved to be ever defiant.

Stephenson strode up to Munch and said, "What did your partner just say?"

"He was complimenting you on your good taste," Munch wearily told her.

"I know he made a snide remark, just like you did!" Stephenson said, waving a finger in Munch's face. "I will remember every snippy comment of yours and mark it down in my journal. It will be useful in my lawsuit against you and your department."

"You have that right," Munch said evenly. When he saw Trevor Langan enter the room, he added, "And here comes your lawyer, now! You two should have some fun sitting down and discussing tactics."

"I assume you have a warrant for this obscene display," Langan said.

In response, Munch handed him the warrants, which Langan spent the next minute glancing over. The frown on his face only intensified.

"I want these peons out of my home, Trevor!" Stephenson ordered. "I want them out of here right now, or else I--!"

"Claire!" he shouted, cutting her off. When she had become quiet, giving him a stunned look in the process, Langan calmly said, "Just let them do whatever they want. Do you understand? Do not get in their way."

"What the hell do you mean?" she cried, with renewed fury. "How dare you even think to allow these mere trolls--"

She was interrupted again when he grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the opposite side of the room, out of earshot. Langan began speaking rapidly in a frenetic whisper, and as she listened to her attorney speak, Claire Stephenson's expression changed from her usual haughty iciness to a look of genuine concern. Then, as Langan finished, Stephenson's look of concern was replaced by an expression of outright fear.

'Well, well,' Munch thought with a slight smile. 'Finally, a crack appears in that unyielding armor….'

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olivia strode up the steps leading to Eric's apartment. She took her lunch break so that she could try and see what the hell was wrong with him. She used her key to open his door, only to find the chain was latched, which prevented the door from opening all the way.

"Eric," she called through the slit in the door. "Open up. I want to talk to you."

The door slammed shut in Olivia's face. And for a minute, she thought it would stay shut--until it abruptly opened again, revealing a blond woman who held a cardboard box filled with Olivia's personal items.

"Eric doesn't want to speak to you," she said. "Would you be so kind as to take your stuff and leave?"

"Who the hell are you?" Olivia asked.

The woman made a disgusted face. "Who I am is not important right now. Just, please, take your things and leave."

"If Eric is breaking up with me, then I'd rather hear it from him, if you don't mind," Olivia told her.

"Haven't you hurt him enough!" the woman cried.

"I don't know who you are, or what you're talking about," Olivia said.

Eric appeared behind the woman, looking angry. "She's talking about how you've been cheating on me, Olivia."

Olivia gave him a stunned look. "Cheating on you? Are you insane?"

"I saw you at the station," Eric said, waving a finger at her, as if Olivia had been a bad little girl. "I saw you hugging that blond bitch."

"Her name is Alex Cabot," Olivia replied, now growing angry. "And I wasn't cheating on you with her, Eric."

"That's not what it looked like to me!"

"Alex has just come back from being in the Witness Protection Program," Olivia said. "This was the first time I had seen her in over a year. We were just catching up--"

"And feeling each other up, as well, I understand," the woman smugly said, as she placed the box on the floor at Olivia's feet.

Olivia repressed an urge to slug the little trollop right in the mouth. Instead she glared at Eric and asked, "Who the fuck is she? What does she have to do with any of this?"

The woman grasped Eric's hand and said, "You might as well tell her, darling."

When she heard that, Olivia's eyes grew so wide with shock, that they nearly fell out of her head. "Excuse me, did you just say, 'Darling'!"

Eric now appeared sheepish. "Um, Leslie has been a huge help to me these past few days."

Olivia glared at the happy couple before them, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. "You son of a bitch…." she said, still stunned. "How dare you!"

Eric held up his hand. "Now, Olivia, it only seemed fair that since you've started cheating on me, that I should seek solace in the loving arms of Leslie."

"But that's just it, you dumb shit," Olivia angrily said, "I wasn't cheating on you! I was NEVER cheating on you!"

Leslie shook her head in disapproval as she turned to Eric and said, "This is exactly what I've been telling, you, honey. She's just too violent a person to reason with. All police officers are like this. Your relationship with her was doomed from the start. You know, I really think that--"

"Leslie, fuck off," Olivia calmly told her. Suddenly growing tired of this situation, she picked up the box of her stuff. "Look, Eric, I'm not going to stand here and take the blame for something I didn't do just because it suits your rationalization of cheating on me."

"I wasn't….you-you were the one who was cheating on me, first," Eric said anxiously. "Just remember that!"

"When you saw me with Alex, she had just told me that she's getting married," Olivia said. "And I gave her a hug of support, that's all. Do I still love and care for Alex? Of course I do. But what we had is long over."

"That's what she says," Leslie reminded Eric. "But can you really trust her?"

"It looks like what we've had is over, too, Eric," Olivia sadly muttered, as she turned around and walked down the hallway with the box in her hands.

"Olivia, wait," Eric said, as he followed her into the hall. "It's just that you've been avoiding me these past few days, Liv. You never called, you haven't kept in touch, and--"

Olivia shook her head. "You knew full well I was working full time on a kidnapping case--which ended very well, by the way. But the fact that I wasn't always able to keep in touch never bothered you before, Eric. You were always so understanding about that. What changed? You meet little miss karma in there? Did she convince you a civilian would be a better fuck than a cop?"

"I heard that!" Leslie said, poking her head out the door. "Eric, are you coming back inside?"

Despite the lost and confused look on his face, Eric gave her a little shrug. "Uh…look, I'm sorry, Liv."

When she realized that, with that casual shrug, her relationship with Eric was effectively over, Olivia solemnly nodded. "Yeah, so am I, Eric," she said, as she handed him his key. "Take care of yourself."

He returned to her the key to her apartment. "You too, Liv."

She carried the box of her personal items out to the car and placed it in the back seat. Olivia got into the driver's seat and was about to start the car, when she abruptly sat back and let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Olivia whispered, as she stared at the waning afternoon sunlight on the side of a building. She'd rescued Lilly, helped Elliot arrest Childs, found out the former love of her life was getting married, and broke up with her boyfriend all within the course of a single day.

'Talk about riding a frigging rollercoaster,' she thought wearily. 'If I get anymore ups and downs today, I'm gonna need seasick pills!'

And in spite of the crushing hurt and depression that she presently felt, Olivia still broke into a smile when something just occurred to her. "My boyfriend's been cheating on me all this time, and I never knew it until now," she muttered to herself, chuckling. "Some great frigging detective I am!"

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Casey smiled when she saw Alex Cabot coming out of the main doors of the One-Six. "Hey, Alex!"

When Alex glanced up at her, she looked dazed and shell-shocked. "Yeah, uh, hey," she replied, without much enthusiasm.

"Is everything ok?" Casey asked with concern.

"Uh, oh God, um…uh," Alex muttered under her breath, as she walked past Casey, waving her hand. "I can't get into it now. I gotta go!"

'Oh Christ, what happened?' Casey nervously wondered. When she emerged from the elevator, she practically ran into the SVU squad room, half expecting to find a disaster. Instead she found Munch seated at his desk with a taciturn look on his face as he gazed over pages and pages of records.

Casey had originally intended to meet with Munch and Fin at the One-Six once they phoned her to say that their search of Claire Stephenson's residence and business was done. But her brief encounter with Alex gave Casey the jitters. "Was Alex just in here?"

"Yeah," Munch said. "She stopped by to say hi."

"Did she seem weird to you?"

"Yeah," Munch replied, deadpan. "But I thought that was because she's been living inNorth Dakotathe past few years."

"John, shame on you," Cragen chided, as he entered the squad room. "North Dakotais a beautiful state."

"It's also a part of the great conspiracy created by the dairy association to force people to drink cow milk," Munch said. "When the fact is that goat's milk is known to be much…." He stopped once he saw Casey slowly shaking her head. "What?"

"It just occurred to me that I happen to be surrounded by crazy people today," Casey said dismally.

Just at that moment, George Huang strolled into the squad room and stared at Casey. "Why do I always walk in on these weird conversations?" he jokingly asked.

"You're a shrink," Munch called over to him, "you should be used to that sort of thing by now."

Cragen pointed at Munch. "You get back to those LUDs!" He glanced at Huang and added, "This way, Doc. We've got a live one in the Box. Casey, you'll want to see this, too."

"I've got some news for you, Don," Casey said, as she followed the men into Cragen's office. "Rachel Gibbons has agreed to testify against Charles Beauchamp in court."

"Yeah, Munch told me before," Cragen said. "Talk about a much needed shot in the arm for your case."

"That's great news!" Huang said, smiling. "How did you convince her?"

"I didn't," Casey told him. "She came to my office of her own accord."

Cragen gestured at the two-way mirror, which showed Fin and Elliot in the interrogation room with Childs. "Meet Samuel Childs."

Casey gazed at the bull-like man as he sat serenely at the table. Elliot was walking back and forth in front of him while Fin leaned against the wall on the far side of the room.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Childs said calmly.

"You hit her!" Elliot roared at him. "You hit that little girl in the face and sent her to the hospital, you son of a bitch!"

"I was nowhere near that house," Childs told them.

"It doesn't matter what you say, man," Fin said. "The little girl identified you as her assailant."

"Then she's mistaken," Childs replied coolly. "Children are often not the best witnesses. You boys should know that better than anybody."

Casey held her breath when she saw the rage within Elliot's eyes. She watched as the man she loved pounded his fist on the table in front of Childs. 'This isn't an act,' she realized, 'he's really pissed!'

Yet Childs was not the least bit intimidated by Elliot's outburst. Elliot leaned over the table, and when he and Childs were face to face, he said, "Claire Stephenson is letting all of you hang out to dry. You realize that, don't you? Now that you and your buddies have been caught, she's washing her hands of all of you."

"Claire Stephenson has nothing to do with any of this," Childs said.

"Wrong!" Fin said. "She's the mastermind behind it all. And if you help us put her away, we might be able to help you."

"You're looking at life behind bars this time, Sammy," Elliot said. "Kidnapping, assault on a minor--and, if your gun turns out to be the one that killed Marcus Sewell, you're also going down for murder. So help yourself by helping us get your boss, Claire Stephenson."

Childs simply smiled at the both of them. "You guys have very vivid imaginations. Claire Stephenson has been an old family friend for years. I know her well. And she would never be involved in anything illegal."

Huang glanced away from the two-way mirror with a thoughtful look on his face. "He's been in jail before, I assume?"

"Yes," Cragen confirmed. "He did fifteen for armed robbery."

"He's got a real 'lifer' mentality," Casey commented.

"Which makes him and the others the perfect stooges for this kind of thing," Huang said. "If they get caught, there no big deal in going back to jail for them. In fact, they may even welcome it."

"Plus they'll be loaded with whatever Stephenson paid them," Casey said. "That'll be a big help for anybody in jail, plus serve as an incentive for them to keep quiet."

Olivia appeared at the door. "Hey, Cap?"

"That was a real short lunch break, Olivia," Cragen said.

"Uh, yeah, I lost my appetite," Olivia muttered with a frown. "I just got a call from ballistics--Childs' gun matches the bullet that killed Marcus Sewell."

"Great news," Cragen said. He went over and tapped gently on the two-way mirror.

Inside the interrogation room, both Elliot and Fin quickly took their leave of Childs. When they entered Cragen's office, the Captain said, "We heard back from ballistics: Childs' gun was the one that killed Marcus Sewell."

"Good," Elliot said with a grim nod. "We'll hit him with that when we go back in."

"Yeah, like that's gonna make a difference," Fin said dourly. "Dude's hardly flinched since we started working on him. It's like talking to a mannequin."

"His attitude may change once he hears about the gun," Elliot said. He glanced at Huang and asked, "What's your opinion Doc? The news about the gun should shake him, right?"

"Either that, or it will make him shut up and want to talk to only his lawyer," Huang said with a sigh. "You want my advice, Elliot? Don't hit him over the head with it. Save the theatrics when you tell him. In fact, I've noticed that Fin's been playing 'good cop' in there. It might be better if he told Childs, alone."

"Got it," Elliot said, as he left the room with Fin.

Olivia was almost out the door as well when Cragen called her back in. "I know I asked you to step down from the case, Olivia. But I was wondering if you could help Munch go through Claire Stephenson's LUDs? We're a little short-staffed right now."

"No problem, Captain," Olivia said, as she went out the door.

When she was gone, Casey asked, "You told Olivia to step down from the Beauchamp case?"

"Yeah, since she's so close with Lilly and her mother, I thought it would be best if Olivia got some distance from the case right now," Cragen said. "Truth be told, I really don't want her alone with Childs, or any of the other kidnappers right now."

"You think she might get violent with them?" Huang asked.

"Let's just say I'd rather not find that out," Cragen replied.

Casey didn't think Olivia would go over the edge, yet she still thought it was a good idea on Cragen's part to keep her away from the case because of her personal ties with Lilly and her mom. "Have the other kidnappers arrived, yet?" she asked Cragen.

"They're on the way right now," he replied.

"All right, I've got to go," Casey said with a glance at her watch. "Call me if anything happens."

"Will do," Cragen told her.

Before she left, Casey stopped by Munch's desk. Olivia sat with him, and they were both intently going over Stepheson's phone records.

"Anything?" Casey asked hopefully.

"We've just double-checked, now," Munch said, looking peeved. "Every phone call coming in and going out the Stephenson household has been accounted for. She hasn't been in touch with the kidnappers--at least, not with her household and business phones."

"TARU is going through Stephenson's email, now," Olivia said. "They told me they'd call if they got anything…but so far, I haven't heard from them."

"Did Childs have a cell phone when you arrested him?" Casey asked her.

Olivia shook her head. "No, no cell phone at all. My guess is Childs dumped the cell phone somewhere once he saw the raid on the kidnapper's place. He was using a pay phone when we spotted him."

"We've got the kidnappers cold for abducting Lilly, the attempted abduction of Linda, and we also got Childs for the murder of Marcus Sewell, and even for arson in the One-Six," Munch said. "But tying Stephenson to all of this won't be as easy. She's covered her tracks too well."

"We still have to go through Stephenson's business records," Olivia said. "Maybe we can find useful something in there."

"Let's hope so," Casey said. "All right, I'm out of here. As always, if anything develops--"

"--we'll give you a call," Munch said with a nod.

Casey glanced up and saw both Elliot and Fin leaving the interrogation room with defeated expressions on their faces. "What happened?" she asked.

"Once Fin told him about the gun, Childs lawyered up," Elliot said with a shake of his head."We're not getting anything out of him from now on."

Elliot looked so depressed that Casey wanted to give him a hug--yet that felt like it would be out of place here and now. "They're bringing the rest of the kidnappers down later," she said hopefully, "maybe you'll have better luck with them."

"We'll give it our best shot," Elliot said. "Even if it means staying all night."

That thought startled Casey to the point where she almost blurted out, "But we haven't slept together in almost a week, now!" Yet she kept her calm, cool exterior in place, thanks in part to her court room skills as a prosecutor.

But Elliot still seemed to notice her consternation, and he gently directed her over to the doorway, away from everybody else. Once they were out of earshot, he said, "I'm sorry, Case. But I need to end this one properly. We owe it to Lilly and Linda to make sure that Stephenson bitch doesn't get away with this."

"Believe me, Elliot, I understand," Casey said. Then, in sotto voce, she added, "But just for the record, I really miss you terribly at night."

"Me, too," he said, as he gently caressed the side of her neck. "But at least this gives us something to look forward to when it's all over."

"Yeah, Stephenson on trial for conspiracy," Casey said with a smile. "I can't wait!"

When Elliot gave her a mock-frown in response, Casey's smile grew into a broad grin. "Oh, were you talking about something else, Detective Stabler?"

"You know I was, ADA Novak," Elliot replied, just before they shared a passionate kiss.

"Ooooo, look! Elliot's dating the DA!" Munch called from across the room.

Elliot just pointed at Munch in a threatening manner.

"Look out, Munch, you've just been fingered," Olivia said, grinning.

"Is that bad?" Munch wanted to know.

"Could be worse," Fin replied, as he got a cup of coffee. "You could've been fingered by the fickle finger of fate."

"Jeez," Olivia said, "try saying that real fast five times!"

"You wanna bet me?" Fin asked seriously.

"All right, now I'm really out of here," Casey said with a laugh.

The rest of the day was relatively quiet for Casey. Once she returned to her office, she got to work on several other cases, making phone calls and meeting with several more victims. She went over the testimony of a forty five year old woman who had been raped by a fellow co-worker--her case was going to trial within the next few weeks, and Casey was pleased to see that the woman was more than ready to face her attacker in court.

When the day had come to a close, Casey got ready to leave--but not before checking with Hector about the status of Alex Borgia. She was disheartened to learn that nothing new had happened. Alex was still missing, and with no ransom demand, it was looking particularly ominous.

She returned home, resigned to spending yet another evening without Elliot. At first Casey didn't think the loneliness had bothered her too much, until she woke up in the middle of the night tightly clutching a pillow like a long-lost lover.

"Oh Christ, I'm so pathetic," Casey said with a groan to the empty room, just before she fell back to sleep.

When she awoke the following day, the first thing Casey did was check her messages. Nothing from Cragen, which was bad news, since that meant they weren't able to crack the other kidnappers as of yet. The One-Six will be Casey's first stop after she checked in at her office.

Casey strolled into the office of the District Attorney at a brisk pace, determined just to make a brief stop in her office to check messages and then leave. But a shocking scene had brought her to a complete stop in the main hallway.

People--both men and women--were standing around crying. And they weren't victims; they were her fellow ADAs and the secretaries who worked the outer office. Casey's first thought was that there had been another terrorist attack--but she would have heard about it on the news by now, wouldn't she?

She found Ron Carver, an ADA who worked with the Major Case Squad, standing morosely by the wall. "Ron, what is it?" Casey asked. "What's wrong?"

Ron had removed his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes. He put them back on and regarded Casey sadly. "You haven't heard?"

"I just got in," Casey said. "Heard what?"

"They found Alex," Ron said, his soft voice almost a whisper.

Although Casey knew what was to come next, she almost didn't want to believe it. "Is she…is Alex…."

"She's gone, Casey," Ron said despondently. "Alex is gone."

Casey flinched as if she had been physically struck. The very first thought she had was, 'This is so wrong!'

**To Be Continued...**


	13. Chapter 13

Olivia strode into the SVU squad room feeling downright chipper. One nice side effect of being taken off the Beauchamp case was that she was allowed to go home and sleep all night, while her comrades remained at the stationhouse, interrogating Lilly's kidnappers. After she punched in, Olivia went over to Cragen's office--his door was open--and knocked on the doorframe.

George Huang had been intently watching through the two-way glass in Cragen's office when her knock caught his attention. "Hello, Olivia."

"Hey," Olivia said. "You taking over for Cragen, or what?"

That made Huang smile broadly. "The Captain's interrogating one of the kidnapping suspects," he told her.

"How's it going?" Olivia asked, as she walked up to the two-way mirror. Elliot and Fin were inside the interrogation room, working over one of the kidnappers.

"Not good," Huang said with a grim shake of his head. "Either they play games and deny everything, or they've outright asked for an attorney." He pointed at the man whom Elliot and Fin were presently questioning. "This guy, and one other man, Greeley, are the only remaining kidnappers who have not lawyered up already."

"Is the other one being worked on by the Cap and Munch?" Olivia asked.

Huang nodded. "I take it you didn't find anything useable in Stephenson's business records?"

Olivia shook her head. "No, her little self-help group for convicts doesn't even have any of the kidnappers' names listed."

"Once she found the men she needed, Stephenson might have dumped them from her records," Huang said. "It makes sense for someone as careful as she is."

"That's what Munch and I figured as well, but there's no indication of any missing files from her records," Olivia replied. "We still don't have much to tie Stephenson in with this conspiracy--except for the fact that she knows Childs personally, but that doesn't count for much." Olivia abruptly made a face. "I guess I shouldn't even be talking to you about this, since I'm officially off the case."

"How does that make you feel?" Huang asked.

Olivia gave him a suspicious look. "What, are you shrinking me, now?"

Huang held his hands up. "I can't ask a simple question?"

Olivia smiled. "Is that like how sometimes a cigar is just a cigar? Sometimes a question is just a simple question?"

"Yes. And sometimes I get a little sick of the shrink jokes, too," Huang muttered. Then he shook his head. "Don't mind me, Liv, it's been a long night. And it looks like it's going to be a long day, too."

Olivia nodded in sympathy. "No problem. If you need anything, I'll be right outside."

'And so it goes,' Olivia thought with a sigh, as she walked back out to the squad room.

She did a double take once she saw Casey. The Assistant District Attorney sat in a chair beside Elliot's desk, looking for all the world like someone who was waiting to report a crime. She stared intently at the floor, her hands clasped over the briefcase in her lap.

"Casey?" Olivia said, as she walked up to the ADA. When Casey didn't respond, Olivia realized there was something dreadfully wrong. She bent down next to Casey and said, "Hey, Casey, you all right?"

Casey looked over at her, startled. Her eyes had a raw look to them, as if she had been crying. "Oh, Liv! Sorry…I didn't hear you."

Olivia reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. "Are you all right?" she asked again.

"They found Alex Borgia this morning," Casey said, her voice trembling. "She had been badly beaten, and left tied up in the trunk of a car, and-and…oh, God, Liv, she didn't deserve that. Alex didn't deserve that at all."

Olivia reeled back in horror at what she heard. Casey sat holding the briefcase up to her chest, looking like a little girl clutching her teddy bear for comfort. "Casey, I'm so sorry," she said softly. "Do they have her killer?"

"No. But they have a very good idea who might have done it," Casey said, as she sought to get herself under control. "The suspects are linked to a case that Alex was working on."

Olivia stood up. "Listen, I'll go get Elliot for you, ok?"

"Is he still in the interrogation room?" Casey asked.

"Yes."

Casey shook her head. "Then leave him."

"It's all right, Casey, he won't--"

"No, Liv, please leave him be," Casey insisted. "I'm fine. Really. I just needed to sit down for a minute and get a hold of myself."

"You sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yes," Casey firmly replied.

Cragen and Munch abruptly exited their interrogation room, both looking exhausted and angry.

"What happened?" Olivia asked. "Did Greeley lawyer up?"

"No," Cragen replied with a heavy sigh. "Greeley didn't lawyer up. He's just incredibly stupid."

"At first we thought this clown was just pretending to be dense," Munch said. "But, apparently, Greeley's just as dumb as he appears."

"You ok?" Cragen asked Casey with concern.

"No," Casey flatly replied, as she got up from the chair.

"They found Alex Borgia," Olivia said sadly. "She's dead."

"Oh jeez," Munch whispered, as he slowly shook his head.

"Casey," Cragen began, "I'm so sor--"

They were all startled from their conversation by the sound of Elliot yelling at the top of his voice from within the interrogation room. 'Oh shit!' Olivia thought, realizing that when she could hear her partner shouting that loudly right through the walls, that he was royally pissed.

Huang came running from the Captain's office. "Elliot's attacked the prisoner!"

As Huang ran into the interrogation room, everybody all broke into a run after him. When she entered the room, Olivia saw that Elliot had the prisoner pinned up against the wall, with Fin trying to pull him away.

"Mr. fucking tough guy here," Elliot snarled at the kidnapping suspect. "Yeah, you're a big man when it comes to terrorizing a little girl, but why don't you try me? Let's see just how fucking tough you are, huh?"

It took the combined efforts of Fin, Munch, Cragen and Huang to finally pull Elliot off of the kidnapping suspect, who merely smiled smugly at Elliot's outbreak.

Olivia stayed by the doorway with Casey--until movement at the corner of her eye made her she glance at the squad room. She saw that the other kidnapping suspect, Greeley, had stuck his head out the door of the interrogation room Cragen and Munch had left him in.

Shaking her head, Olivia ran over to him and said, "Where do you think you're going? Get back in there!"

Greeley stared sheepishly at her. "I-I'm not free to go?"

'Jeez, this guy really is dense, isn't he?' Olivia thought with disgust. "You've been booked for charges of kidnapping, sir. To answer your question: no, you can't leave. Please sit back down at the table."

Greeley quickly complied, sitting down at the table with his hands clasped together before him like an obedient schoolboy. "Are you gonna talk to me, now?"

'I actually would like to beat your head in!' Olivia thought angrily. "No, sir," she replied, maintaining her professional tone. "I'm just here to make sure you don't try to leave again."

Greeley nodded in understanding. Then he glanced up at her and said, "I ain't never dealt with a lady cop before."

Olivia, who stood by the opened door, glanced back in at him with a frown. "First time for everything," she muttered.

Olivia watched with concern as Elliot had been brought into the squad room, where he took a seat in his chair. "Captain, Casey, I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head.

"That arrogant scumbag had it coming," Fin said with a wave of his hand.

"I don't care if we've got the anti-Christ in there," Cragen said angrily. "We have a procedure to follow here, and I shouldn't have to explain it to you by now, Elliot!"

"I know, I know," Elliot said with a shameful nod. "I let him get to me. I fucked up."

"Do you take care of the kids?" Greeley suddenly asked.

"What!" Olivia said, giving him a puzzled look.

"Is that why they have a lady cop like you around," he sincerely asked, "so that you can take care of the kids?"

Olivia, growing tired of this moron's constant droning on and on, just nodded her head and said, "Yeah, whatever…."

"You remind me of my big sister," Greeley said. "My mom died when we were young, and Marie, my sis, raised us." He looked depressed for a moment. "Marie won't be very happy to hear I'm going back to jail again."

'And whose fault is that?' Olivia thought, annoyed. She really wished this idiot would shut up.

"Hey, listen: since you take care of the kids here, then you'd know how that little girl is doing, right?" Greeley said. "Is she ok?"

There was nothing Olivia hated more than when a perp tried to gain sympathy by shedding crocodile tears for his victim. "If you truly cared for Lilly Beauchamp, you never would have kidnapped her in the first place."

"Yeah," Greeley said awkwardly. "You're right. You're absolutely right. But I thought we were gonna just scare them, y'know? The little girl and her mom. But I was shocked when Ms. Stephenson wanted us to kill her right away. For what it's worth, I never wanted to hurt that poor kid."

'Oh sweet Jesus,' Olivia thought, stunned, as her eyes grew as large as saucers. 'Did he just mention Stephenson's name?' She leaned forward in the doorway, making sure she was out of Greeley's sight, and frantically waved for Casey to come over.

Once Casey ran up to her, Olivia silently gestured for her to go into the adjacent room, which had a two-way mirror, so that she could listen in on their conversation.

Assured that Casey was in place, Olivia slowly stepped back into the interrogation room and said, "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

"I said I never wanted to hurt that poor kid."

"No, before that…."

"Oh, about Ms. Stephenson wanting us to kill the little girl?"

Olivia smiled. "Right. Who's Ms. Stephenson?"

"Claire Stephenson," the man replied. "She's a friend of Mr. Childs. He wasn't too happy when she showed up that day, let me tell you! Mr. Childs wanted her to stay away from us, but when Ms. Stephenson showed up anyway, they got into a big argument."

Olivia came over and sat down across from the man at the table. "Where was this?"

"At the house where we kept the girl," Greeley told her. He shook his head at the memory. "Ms. Stephenson was really angry, too. She wanted us to kill the little girl right away. But Mr. Childs said we had to keep her alive to use as bait to get to the mother. That was when I realized that all of this wasn't just to scare them."

"To scare them into doing what?"

"Actually it was to scare them into not doing something," Greeley said. "Ms. Stephenson didn't want Lilly and her mom to testify in court against some guy."

Although Olivia kept her face as a neutral mask, within she felt her spirits soar as high as an eagle. 'This is it,' she realized. 'We've got her! We've just nailed Claire Stephenson to the wall!'

Casey entered the room with a picture in her hand. When she handed it to Olivia, she saw that it was a photo of Claire Stephenson. Olivia placed the photo on the table and shoved it towards Greeley. "Is this the woman you saw speaking to Mr. Childs?"

"Yeah, yeah," Greeley said with a nod. "That's her. That's Claire Stephenson."

"And you overheard Claire Stephenson telling Mr. Childs to kill Lilly Bueachamp?" Casey asked.

"Yes, I did," he replied. "Are you a lady cop, too?"

"No," Casey said. "I'm the assistant district attorney who's prosecuting this case. Would you be willing to repeat everything you've just said in a court of law?"

When he hesitated, Olivia prodded him. "It would be a big help to Lilly."

"Would I still have to go to jail?" Greeley asked hopefully.

Olivia and Casey exchanged a knowing look. 'Apparently, he's not as dumb as he looks,' Olivia thought. 'He's trying to cut himself a deal, here.'

"We could work something out," Casey said coyly. "Excuse us for a moment, would you?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's not that I don't appreciate what you've done," Cragen said to Olivia when they were all gathered in the squad room, "but what the hell did you say to Greeley?"

"We've been working on Greeley all night," Munch added, "and all we've got out of him was that he was just the errand boy for the kidnappers. He cleaned the house, bought the groceries,did their dishes, and so on."

After Olivia told them of what occurred between her and Greeley, she added, "He told me I reminded him of his older sister, who raised him."

Huang grinned. "You reminded him of the one authority figure whom he trusted; that's why he felt he could open up to you."

Olivia nodded. "Then he just started talking to me about Stephenson, and I ran with it. Cap, I know I'm off the case, and I'm sorry, but--"

"Nonsense. You just helped to break this case wide open, so no apology is needed," Cragen told her. "In fact, I should have kept you on the case; you probably would've cracked Greeley much sooner."

"Did Lilly mention anything about seeing Stephenson where she was being held captive?" Munch asked.

"No, not at all," Olivia replied. "She said the kidnappers kept her in that room all the time."

"She wouldn't have seen anything anyway," Elliot said in agreement.

Olivia glanced at her watch. "Speaking of Lilly, she's being released from the hospital today and I'm supposed to be there soon."

"Go bring the kid home, Olivia," Cragen said. He glanced over at Casey and added, "As for the rest of us, I suppose another visit to Claire Stephenson is in order?"

Casey smiled. "I can do one better than that. Let's bring her in for questioning."

"She's already lawyered up," Munch warned. "She'll bring Langan with her."

"Let Stephenson bring her expensive mouthpiece," Casey said. "I don't care. She's now a prime suspect in this investigation, and that makes her fair game. I want to take a run at her in the interrogation room."

"You heard the lady," Cragen told his detectives. "John, Fin, are you two rested up enough to escort Ms. Society Page back here to the squad room?"

"It would be our extreme pleasure, Captain," Fin said with a predatory smile.

"Still got your water pistol?" Munch asked Fin as they left the squad room.

Fin patted his jacket pocket in response. "I'm always prepared, baby. Let's go get the Wicked Witch!"

Cragen paused, staring after them with a strange look on his face. He appeared to be on the verge of asking what they were talking about--but then thought the better of it with a shake of his head and walked back into his office.

Olivia grabbed her coat and personal effects. "I'm on my way to see Lilly and Linda," she told Elliot and Casey as she left. "You guys need me, just give me a call."

"Say hi to Lilly for us," Elliot called after her. He then walked over to Casey and gently rubbed her arm. "You ok?"

Casey let out a chuckle. "I should ask the same of you. That was some blow up before."

"Yeah," Elliot said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That's what you get for not getting enough sleep, I guess." He gave her a concerned look. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you look like you've been crying."

"That's a fair assumption," Casey with a weary sigh.

"What happened?"

"They found Alex Borgia," Casey said, and no sooner did she say those words than she felt her very soul being drowned by grief once more. "Um, she's dead…."

"Oh jeez, Case, I am so sorry," Elliot said, as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"They beat her, Elliot," Casey said, the tears flowing once more as she clung to him tightly. "They beat her senseless, and then they left her tied up in the trunk of a car, where she…she vomited, but because of her gag, Alex, she…she…."

"Casey don't," Elliot told her. "Don't torture yourself."

"But I was with her, Elliot!" she said, pulling away from his embrace. "Just a few hours before she had been abducted, I was with her at the DA's office. And I can't help but wonder now if only I had just invited Alex out for coffee, or--"

"You can't blame yourself for this," he said softly. "Please don't do that. Listen, I'll make it an early night tonight. We can be together, all right?"

"I'd like that, I really do, but I want more," Casey said. "Elliot, we've been through so much in this past year. Olivia and I have been kidnapped, and I've been nearly beaten to within an inch of my life; you've been shot. And now Alex's death…it's yet another reminder to me of how precarious and precious life is. Any one of us can be gone just like that. What I'm saying is, I want us to be together every night, Elliot. I'm not asking for marriage just yet, but I still want more of a commitment in our relationship. Does this make any sense?"

"Of course it does," Elliot said, after some thought. "It makes perfect sense to me. You know, I've been--"

Casey shook her head in annoyance when her cell phone rang. "I'm sorry, El!"

"That's ok. Duty calls," Elliot told her. "Go ahead."

When she answered the call, Casey heard Hector on the other end. He sounded out of breath and excited. "Casey! I've got news for you. Are you sitting down?"

"What is it, Hector?"

"Are you sure you're sitting down?" Hector asked.

Casey let out an aggravated groan. "Look, Hector, I really don't have time for this nonsense. So will you just please tell me what is it?"

"Charles Beauchamp is dead," Hector said.

Casey was so taken aback by that news that she was literally knocked off her feet. Elliot caught her by the arm and guided her onto a chair.

"What is it?" Elliot asked anxiously. "What's wrong?"

Casey stared back at Elliot, still stunned. The only thing she could think of saying was: "Holy shit…."

**To Be Concluded In The Next, And Final, Chapter...**


	14. Chapter 14

'What began at Rikers, ends at Rikers,' Casey thought, as she was being escorted to the conference room by Hector and Neville.

She had just seen the body of Charles Beauchamp in the prison morgue, and while Casey had to admit to a certain pleasure at finally seeing that smug smile permanently wiped off the bastard's face, it had still been a gruesome sight. Beauchamp wasn't so much stabbed to death as he had been practically vivisected with a home-made knife in the prison shower. The look of terror in his last moments was still frozen on his face in a perpetual grisly death mask.

While Casey had pondered the horror of this vicious murder, Alex Norton--Beauchamp's attorney--had walked in, took one look at her deceased client, and merely said, "Shit."

Norton then promptly took out her cell phone and made a call to her secretary. "Lizzie? Yeah, tell Ronnie that my current appointment has just become available. I can meet with him now, if he wants to. Say in thirty minutes at Reynard's? Great."

As if making a new appointment while standing over the body of her former client wasn't tacky enough, once she was done with her call, Norton even gave Casey a cheerful little wave as she left the autopsy room.

"It's people like her who give lawyers a bad name," Casey said, after Norton had left.

"True," Neville said, as he stood with his arms folded across his massive, barrel chest. "But it's people like you who renew my faith in attorneys, Ms. Novak."

"I couldn't agree more," Hector told her.

"Thanks, guys," Casey replied, touched.

She truly appreciated their kind words, since she needed the boost right then, especially since she was about to meet the man who had so brutally killed Charles Beauchamp.

Neville opened the door to the conference room, where an intense-looking man with a shaved head and a goatee sat at the table, dressed in prison orange with his wrists handcuffed in front of him to a chain around his waist. Two more prison guards stood directly behind him, watching him tersely. Another man sat at the table beside the prisoner. Casey recognized him as Warren Gerstein, a legal aid attorney whom she had encountered in and out of the courtroom many times.

"Hello, Warren," Casey said, as she took a seat directly opposite from the prisoner.

"Casey," he said by way of greeting. He gestured at the prisoner. "This is my client, Marvin Weidman."

"Mr. Weidman," Casey said, "I understand you were the one who killed Charles Beauchamp."

"Forgive me if I don't shake your hand…Casey," Weidman said, as he rattled the handcuffs. "But I'm a little restrained at the moment."

Amid Weidman's braying laughter, Hector leaned against the desk in a threatening manner and said, "Watch it, scumbag!"

Weidman glared defiantly back at him. "Or what? There'll be no more ice cream served to me anymore? I'm already serving five life sentences, what the fuck more can you morons do to me?"

Casey looked over Weidman's arrest file. He had been convicted of breaking into the home of a known drug dealer and killing five of the people who were in the house at the time. He bound them and tortured them to death, and then helped himself to the cocaine they had stashed--which proved to be his undoing; for when the sixth resident--the drug dealer himself, as it turned out--escaped and called the police, the responding uniforms found Weidman still in the house, stoned out of his mind from the coke, lying amidst the bodies of his victims.

"Why did you kill Charles Beauchamp, Mr. Weidman?" Casey asked, as she placed the file back in her suitcase.

"Because the motherfucker deserved it, talking the way he did," Weidman said coldly. "He was always going on and on about what a badass he was, raping all those chicks. I got tired of listening to him, so I offed him."

'A vicious monster is killed by yet another vicious monster,' Casey thought, as she glared back at the cold-bore intensity of the murderous hatred that dwelled in Weidman's eyes. Casey didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity of this situation.

Then, with a slight shrug, she said, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Weidman."

"No, thank you, Casey," Weidman replied in a sneering tone. "You want me to kill anybody else in here, just let me know. But my help comes with a price: you'll have to show up here naked next time!"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Marvin," Gerstein said, dismayed. "You're just digging a deeper hole for yourself here!"  
Casey showed no emotion as she got up and left the room with Hector at her side, who gave Weidman one last hard look over his shoulder. When she was in the hallway, Casey was about to say something to Hector when she was interrupted by Gerstein, who ran up to them.

"Sorry about that, Casey," Gerstein said sheepishly. "Look, I realize I may be wasting my time here, but as Marvin's attorney, I have to ask: is there any chance of a deal?"

"Your client didn't ask for a deal, and I'm not inclined to give him one," Casey told him curtly. "When I get through with him, he'll be serving six life sentences. See you in court, Warren."

"At least Beauchamp is history," Hector said, as they continued walking down the hall. "There will be a lot of women who will now breathe a sigh of relief knowing he's gone."

"Not to a mention a little girl," Casey added, thinking of Lilly. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm off to deal with Charlie's psycho girlfriend Claire."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here we are," Olivia said, as she led Linda and Lilly up the walkway of the house, "home sweet home."

Linda's parents--whose house this was--were there to greet them with huge hugs on the massive front porch. Olivia smiled at how content Lilly appeared. With the exception of the bandage that covered the bruise on her head, she looked like any carefree little girl.

As she stood on the porch steps, just off to the side of the family reunion, Olivia couldn't help but feel a little sad. The break up with Eric had really sunk in as Olivia watched the joyful greetings between Lilly and her family. While she dated Eric, Olivia had often wondered if he had truly been the one for her. But now, she had to start all over again with the dating game.

'Maybe it's just as well that I don't have a family,' Olivia glumly thought. 'I wouldn't want to pass on the genes that I have, anyway…'

Still, Olivia could help but feel melancholy, as well as a little envious, of the warm family scene that unfolded before her, and of the fact that she wasn't truly a part of it.

Olivia was just about to make a discreet exit when Lilly's great-grandmother abruptly turned towards her and gave Olivia a big hug. "Come have tea and bagels with us!" the old woman told Olivia. "Come, come!"

"Tea and bagels--it's a family tradition," Linda said. "You're more than invited, Olivia."

"Oh, that all right, I don't want to intrude, especially since it's a family tradition," Olivia said. "You guys go ahead."

Right at that moment, Linda shared a knowing look with Lilly. Linda then moved toward Olivia and said, "Grandma, let Liv go for a second, please? I'd like to speak with her."

The old woman smiled as she nodded her head in understanding. She took Lilly by the hand and led her inside the house.

"What's up?" Olivia asked, noticing the subtle smiles on everyone.

"Liv, I've been meaning to ask if you would consider being Lilly's guardian," Linda said. "It would be a great relief to me knowing--should anything ever happen to me--that Lilly would be in your care."

Olivia was stunned at what she just heard. "Oh my God, Linda, I-I don't know what to say…."

Lilly stuck her head out of the front door and pleaded, "SAY YES!"

"Lilly, I thought we agreed that I would speak to Olivia about this alone," Linda chided. She turned back and smiled at Olivia. "As you can see, I've already spoken about this with her, as well as my folks and grandmother. And we're all in agreement, Olivia: we'd love it if you say yes."

Olivia was still shocked to the point where she had trouble finding her voice at first. And as hard as she tried not to cry, the tears came freely down her face. "Um, I-I'm honored," Olivia finally manage to say in a whisper, "but I'm hardly a good guardian for Lilly. She saved herself, Linda. I didn't even do anything for her this time."

Linda leaned forward and gently said, "Bullshit. You did more for Lilly than you'll ever know. Do you have any idea how hard it was for Lilly to go through what she did, Olivia? She talked to me about it last night. Being held hostage in a dark, dank room with no food or water, can you imagine how horrifying an experience that was for a little girl? But do you know what got her through it? Thinking about you, Olivia. Lilly told me that the one thing that helped to get her through her ordeal was the thought that you were coming for her. Even when you weren't physically there, you still kept my daughter safe and alive, Olivia. And that's a person whom I want looking after Lilly if I'm not around."

Olivia was so choked up with emotion that she could only nod her head. "Yes," she said, "the answer is yes. And thank you so much, both of you."

Both Lilly and Linda came over and gave Olivia a hug, which made her cry even more. "Some cop I am!" she said, with a smile. "I can't stop blubbering!"

Lilly's great-grandmother came back out onto the porch and smiled warmly at Olivia. "Now that you are part of the family, you come in and have tea and bagels. Come, come on in!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Olivia said with a laugh.

As Lilly was escorting her into the living room, Olivia's cell phone went off. When she examined the screen, she saw that Elliot was calling. "Excuse me for one minute, sweetie," she told Lilly.

"Lilly, come help in the kitchen," her mother called.

Olivia took a seat on the sofa and answered the call. "Yeah, El?"

"Liv! Are you sitting down?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, I am," Olivia said with a puzzled frown. "Why?"

"Because I've got some news for you!" he said. And then he told her.

Afterwards, Olivia ended the call, sat back on the sofa, and whispered, "Oh wow…."

Charles Beauchamp was dead. That smug, vicious little bastard, who had been an enduring nightmare to this poor family, was gone forever. Beauchamp had been knifed in the shower by a fellow prisoner simply because his killer had thought him to be annoying. It was almost enough to make Olivia burst out laughing. Yet she still needed to tell Lilly and her family.

Olivia walked into the kitchen, where she found Lilly, her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all busy preparing their meal. Lilly's grandfather, who sat at the counter, waved at Olivia. "C'mon, and take a load off, Olivia!"

It was Linda who was the first to notice that something was up. She paused in setting out the cups for the tea and stared at Olivia with concern. "What is it, Liv?"

Olivia tried to find a neat way to say it--until she realized that there was no better way to say it than to just come out with it: "Charles is dead."

Everyone in the kitchen now stopped what they were doing and stared at her in shock--save for Lilly's great-grandmother, who continued preparing the bagels, completely oblivious to what Olivia had just said, thanks to her poor hearing.

"How?" Linda asked in a whisper.

"In prison," Olivia told her. She glanced at Lilly, not wanting to get too graphic. "He was killed by another prisoner--no real reason was given."

"I might burn in hell," Linda said, shaking her head slowly, "but I'm actually relieved to hear this."

She and Lilly embraced tightly. Lilly also looked initially shocked at the news, yet she seemingly held it together far better than anyone else did. Lilly never cared for her former stepfather, and if she was at all bothered by his death, she didn't show it now.

"What?" Lilly's great-grandmother said, finally noticing there was something wrong. "What is it?"

"Charles is dead, Mama," Linda's mother told her. "He was killed in prison."

In response to this, Lilly's great-grandmother pressed her hands together in front of her face, and then she glanced up at the ceiling. "Thank you, almighty God! Thank you for answering my prayer! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Grand-Mama!" Linda cried, stunned. "Did you actually pray to God for Charles to be killed!"

"Oh, yes," the old woman said with a sweet smile that was sublime. "Every night! And, apparently, He heard me last night."

It took everything Olivia had to keep from bursting out in laughter right there and then. Even Linda appeared to be holding back a laughing fit as she hurriedly got the food ready. "Ok, enough about Charles," she said, "let's all just enjoy a meal as a family together, shall we?"

Olivia watched as everyone hurriedly collected the food and brought it over to the table. She came up alongside of Lilly's great-grandmother, who gave her a broad smile.

"You know, you're a real pistol," Olivia whispered in admiration.

The old woman just waved her hands. "Just between you and me, Olivia, if I were a much younger woman, I would have killed that son of a bitch myself."

Olivia watched, wide-eyed, as the old woman went to get butter, jam, and other toppings for the bagels.

'I'd better make sure I always stay on her good side!' Olivia thought with a smile.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is she here?" Casey asked, as she entered the SVU squad room.

"Just brought her in now," Cragen told her. "She's in the interrogation room, waiting for her lawyer. She won't say a word."

"Of course not," Casey said, who looked around for Elliot, but did not see him. 'He must be on break,' she thought. 'Good--he needs it.' She glanced at Munch and Fin and asked, "Did she give you guys any trouble?"

Munch shook his head in the negative. "Didn't even protest. Just went along quietly."

"Did you get the feeling she heard about Beauchamp?" Casey asked.

"If Stephenson knows, she doesn't appear broken up over it," Fin said.

"Trust me, she doesn't know," Huang chimed in, as he got himself a cup of coffee. "If she did, she would be an emotional wreck right now. And that's not the case at all."

"So she doesn't know, yet," Casey said with a thoughtful nod. "Good."

"You're gonna hit her with it?" Cragen asked.

"That was the plan," Casey replied. "Now we'll just have to wait until her lawyer's here."

"The wait's over," Fin said, with a discreet nod towards something behind Casey. "'cause he's here."

Trevor Langan entered the squad room with his customary displeased look. "Hello, Casey, I see you've finally done the unthinkable by having an innocent woman brought in for questioning."

"Spare me, Trevor," Casey muttered, as they both walked towards the interrogation room.

Trevor placed his hand on the doorknob--then hesitated. "Hey," he said, his tone softening. "For what it's worth, I'm very sorry to hear about Alex Borgia. What happened to her was terrible."

"Thanks," Casey said.

Once he opened the door and they entered the interrogation room, both Casey and Trevor were back to being all business.

Trevor went up to Stephenson and said, "Are you all right? You didn't speak to anybody, did you?"

"No, I'm fine," Stephenson told him. She then glared at Casey. "Are you the prosecutor?"

"Yes," Casey said. "Casey Novak; I'm an ADA with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office."

Stephenson nodded. "Thanks for telling me your full name. I can now add you to the list of people whom I'm suing over this travesty of justice."

"All right, Claire, ease off," Trevor said, as he took a seat next to her. "May I ask why did you bring my client down here today, Casey?"

"A witness has identified Ms. Stephenson as being present at the site where Lilly Beauchamp was held hostage," Casey said. "I just wanted to hear her side of that story."

"It's an outlandish notion," Trevor said with a shrug. "Who's your witness, one of the kidnappers?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Casey replied.

"I would never associate with scum of the earth like that," Stephenson said haughtily.

"Really, Ms. Stephenson?" Casey said. "That's interesting, because one of Lilly's kidnappers turns out to be a man whom you know quite well: Samuel Childs."

"Mr. Childs is a family friend," Trevor cut in. "And because of such, my client had certain obligations towards him, such as paying his rent and the like--yet she knew nothing of whatever criminal activities Mr. Childs may have been involved in."

Casey nodded. "And what about Charles Beauchamp?"

Trevor glanced at Stephenson, who said, "I took a class--a college course--that he taught many years ago. But that was the only time I knew him, and I didn't know him very well. Our relationship was merely teacher/student."

Casey noted that Stephenson sounded very phony just now, as if she had rehearsed that statement.

"But you told my detectives that you never met Mr. Beauchamp at all," Casey said.

"That class was several years ago," Trevor said. "My client obviously had forgotten all about it."

"I see," Casey replied. "And your relationship with Mr. Beauchamp never ventured beyond that of teacher/student?"

"No," Stephenson said firmly. "It was a big class; I barely knew the man."

'It's time to drop the bomb,' Casey thought.

"Yes, well, it's a shame that we can no longer get Mr. Beauchamp's side of that story," Casey said with a slight shake of her head.

Stephenson's eyes grew very wide at that remark. "What do you mean?"

Casey gave a casual shrug. "Only that Mr. Beauchamp was murdered in prison early this morning. Stabbed to death in the shower by another prisoner--it was pretty gruesome."

"Look, none of this has any bearing on my client's situation," Trevor said. "So why don't you just--"

"You're lying," Claire Stephenson growled, as she glared hatefully at Casey.

Trevor looked stunned at his client's reaction. "Claire, take it easy. We don't--"

Casey leaned forward and asked, "Why would I be lying about Mr. Beauchamp's death? Trevor, you've got a phone: call Rikers yourself and find out. The name of Beauchamp's murderer is Marvin Weidman, a real nasty fellow. He's being represented by Warren Gerstein."

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Stephenson screamed, as she reached out across the table for Casey, her hands bent into claws. "You're a lying, stinking WHORE!"

But Casey was saved by Trevor, of all people, who deftly grabbed Stephenson and pulled her back down into her chair. "Claire, stop it!" he told her. "Claire, get a hold of yourself right now!"

The door burst open and Cragen entered the room with Munch. "Are you all right?" Cragen asked.

Casey nodded as she gestured for them to remain where they were.

"He can't be dead!" Stephenson wailed as Trevor continued to hold her. "Charlie can't be dead! Not after everything I did for him!"

"What did you do for Charlie, Claire?" Casey asked her. "What did you do?"

"My client is obviously very distraught, and I need some time alone with her," Trevor said, as he continued cradling the sobbing woman in his arms. "So, if there's nothing else here…."

"Actually, there is," Casey said. "Your client is under arrest for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder."

Trevor shook his head. "You're making a grave mistake, Casey."

"No, Trevor, your client was the one who made the mistake," Casey muttered, as she collected her things and left the room. She heard Munch formally reading Claire her rights.

"Casey!" It was Trevor, who ran outside after her. "My client will be out of jail in a matter of hours. You know that."

"Yes, but that won't stop me from doing what I have to do, Trevor. In the meantime, Claire Stephenson will have to go through the booking process just like everybody else."

"You're trying to put a very sick woman in jail," Trevor said. "Claire suffers from a psychotic disorder which doesn't make her responsible for her actions."

Casey turned and faced him. "And by invoking the insanity defense, are you admitting guilt, here?"

"All I'm saying at this point is that Claire Stephenson is a very sick woman," Trevor calmly repeated.

"And thus laying the groundwork for your defense to come," Casey said with a shake of her head. "I can't really say I'm surprised to see you take this tactic, Trevor. But I'll look forward to seeing you use it in court. It should be entertaining to watch."

"If you'll excuse me, I must get back to my client," Trevor said stiffly.

"You go right ahead."

After he left, Cragen came up to her and asked, "You sure you're ok?"

Casey merely grinned broadly at him. "We just nailed Claire Stephenson to the wall, Don. I've never felt better."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Olivia arrived back at the SVU squad room, she found Cragen, Munch and Fin huddled around the TV set along with several other officers--both detectives and uniformed--from the One Six. As she walked up to them, she saw the District Attorney, Arthur Branch, speaking on the TV in a live news conference regarding the death of one of his ADAs, Alex Borgia.

"Olivia," Cragen said by way of greeting.

"Cap, Lilly's safe and sound at her grandparents' place," Olivia told him.

"The hospital released her with a clean bill of health?" Fin asked.

"Yeah, she's a tough little kid," Olivia said with admiration. Her smile faded when she glanced at the solemn press conference on TV. Olivia felt a pang of sorrow when she saw the grim Jack McCoy--whose assistant Alex Borgia had been--standing just behind Branch. "Do they have any leads?"

Cragen shook his head. "If they do, they're not saying. This is just an acknowledgement by the D.A.'s office of Alex's death."

Munch pointed at the TV screen. "There's Casey."

Olivia nodded when she saw Casey standing just behind Branch, on the opposite side of McCoy. She appeared just as solemn as the rest of the ADAs who stood by their boss.

"When Casey was in witness protection last year, Alex Borgia took over Casey's workload," Cragen said, looking sad.

"I remember," Olivia replied. She had met Borgia just a few times, and wished she had known the woman better.

"First time I met her, Borgia went one on one with Charles Beauchamp's attorney right in my office," Cragen said, with a slight smile. "I was the referee for that one, and I've got to say that Alex gave as good as she got."

"Speaking of Beauchamp, did Elliot call you about him?" Munch asked Olivia.

"Oh yeah," Olivia replied with a broad smile. "That had to be the best news I've heard in a while!"

"We've also formally arrested Stephenson," Fin said. "Casey managed to break her down in the box."

"Oh, wow, I wish I could have been here to see that," Olivia said.

"We're all heading to Mulligan's later to celebrate," Munch told her. "Come with us."

"I will," Olivia said. "Thanks."

"You're not spending any lovey-dovey time with Eric?" Fin asked, looking shocked.

Olivia let out a heavy sigh. They would have to find out sooner or later, so it might as well be now. "Eric and I have spilt. He was cheating on me."

"What?" Munch said, shocked.

"And he even had the gall to make it out like I was the one who was cheating on him," Olivia said ruefully.

"Were you?" Munch asked.

"No!" Olivia angrily replied.

"That little punk-assed bitch," Fin muttered. "Listen, Liv, I know some people in the Traffic division. If you want, I can seriously fuck Eric up for you."

"Ok, I just didn't hear that," Cragen said, as he calmly turned around and walked back to his office.

Olivia shook her head uneasily. "Fin--"

"No sooner he gets his car out of the lot, it'll get towed again," Fin told her, grinning. "And who knows what shape it'll be when he gets it back?"

"This is the real reason we became cops," Munch said sarcastically. "Revenge is a dish best served cold, and while wearing a badge!"

"Ok, for one thing, Eric doesn't have a car," Olivia said. "And even if he did, I still wouldn't want anything to happen to him, all right? It's over, Fin, let's just leave it at that."

"You could still fuck with Eric even if he didn't have a car," Fin said.

"You're a very sick man, you _do_ know that, right?" Munch asked him.

Fin held his hands up. "Hey, I'm just sayin' y'know?"

"I'll be at my desk…" Olivia muttered with a heavy sigh.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

District Attorney Arthur Branch stood at the podium and spoke eloquently about the loss of Alexandra Borgia, and how she will be missed, and how the work that she left behind will go on. The press, who were gathered on the front steps of the D.A.'s office, ate it all up.

Casey was sure that it was a wonderful speech, but she wouldn't really know, since she had tuned Arthur out several minutes ago. She had desperately wanted to be a part of this press conference, as a show of support and love for her slain colleague. Yet as she stood silently with Jack McCoy, Ron Carver, Kelly Gaffney and the others, Casey couldn't help but reflect back on the past few days.

'Lilly was saved, yet Alex was not,' she mused. It almost appeared to be some sort of crazy balancing act at work--a malevolent ying and yang that cruelly chose between two lives. While Casey was grateful that Lilly was saved, she wondered why it had to be at the expense of Alex's life.

'Or was there any real plan at all?' she wondered. 'Was the universe just one big random game of chance?'

Casey let out a sigh as that thought made her feel even worse than she did before. Eventually, the press conference ended, and the ADAs all broke up, each going their separate ways. Casey, who had already closed up her office for the day, started walking down the street on her way home--until she saw a familiar figure standing on the sidewalk.

Rachel Gibbons stood watching the crowd of ADAs as they dispersed; her intense scrutiny had actually made some of Casey's colleagues nervous. This skittishness was easy to understand, since one of their own had recently been so horribly murdered.

"Rachel!" Casey called, as she waved to her.

"I got your message," Rachel said, as she came over. "I can't believe he's dead."

"Murdered in the prison shower," Casey confirmed.

"So what happens now?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing," Casey told her. "With Beauchamp dead, the case is formally closed. You no longer have to testify, although I'm still very grateful that you came forward."

When Rachel glanced down at the ground, she had a strange look on her face.

"Are you all right?" Casey asked.

"Yes, it's just that--" Rachel shook her head. "I'm happy--relieved, even--that I don't have to go to trial. But a part of me is disappointed. I actually wanted to face Beauchamp again. Is that crazy, or what?"

"That's not crazy," Casey assured her. "You simply wanted justice, that's all."

"And I've been denied."

"No," Casey corrected. "You received justice of a different sort. Look at it this way: at least now Charles Beauchamp will never hurt anyone else ever again."

Rachel nodded in understanding. "So what do I do now?"

"Whatever you want to," Casey said. "This chapter of your life is over, Rachel. It's now time to forget Beauchamp and move on."

"I will. Thank you, Casey," Rachel said, as she gave her a warm hug. "Thank you for caring."

Casey was about to say, 'It's my job,' but stopped herself. The truth was she was extremely grateful to receive the hug from Rachel just now. In light of Alex's death, Rachel's presence was a affirmation for Casey of what she was really here for: to help the victims. It was a dangerous job at times, but one that was well worth fighting for.

After she bid Rachel farewell, Casey resumed walking down the street.

She was expecting another lonely evening by herself tonight, since Elliot will probably be out celebrating the end of the Beauchamp case with the others at Mulligan's.

When a man stood in her way on the sidewalk, Casey glanced up at him with a frown. Then her frown disappeared when she saw it was Elliot.

"Hey there, gorgeous," Elliot said. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, his shirt collar opened, and his tie tucked into his suit jacket pocket. He stared after Rachel with a scowl. "Why does she look familiar?"

"That's Rachel Gibbons," Casey said.

"She was one of Beauchamp's first victims," Elliot said with a nod. "She must be very relieved."

"Yeah. What are you doing here?" she blurted out. When Casey realized what she sounded like, she quickly regrouped. "Um, sorry. I mean, I thought you'd be out celebrating the closing of the case."

"I am out celebrating," he said, "with you."

Casey shook her head. "I don't really feel like going to Mulligan's right now."

"Me, neither." He leaned close to her and added, "Remember what you said before about how you wanted more of a commitment from me? We got interrupted by that phone call, and I never gave you an answer. It's yes. I love you, Casey. And I want to be with you a lot more--even if that means moving in together, I'm prepared to do that. Why don't we start right now by enjoying a relaxing weekend; just the two of us?"

Casey was so moved she felt on the verge of tears. "You don't know what that means to me, Elliot, especially now. Thank you."

They kissed and embraced with passion just then, and in that moment, the rest of the world faded away for Casey, leaving only the two of them in the warm glow of their love.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you fucking crazy?" Olivia asked.

Alex Eames gently shook her head. "I'm just asking for you to just consider the possibility, that's all."

They both stood in the women's room of Mulligan's--where they were the only two present.

"But of all people, Mike Logan?" Olivia said with shock. "Sweet Jesus, Alex!"

"Is it because he's a little intense?" Alex asked.

"A little intense? He got dumped in a Staten Island precinct because he slugged a politician!" Olivia said. "Look, I've dated my fair share of cops, and it's never worked out for me."

Alex's response was cut off when another woman entered the restroom just then. "Excuse us," Olivia said, as she and Alex left the room.

Once they were outside, Alex whispered, "Um, ok, just don't get too excited when you see Mike at the table."

Olivia stared at her wide-eyed. "You invited Logan here tonight? Wait, Munch told you about my break up, didn't he?"

"We're just trying to fix you up with a friend, that's all," Alex said defensively.

"And it's not that I don't appreciate it," Olivia said. "But I've broken it off with Eric for barely a day, and already people are trying to fix me up! I'd like a little breathing room."

"I hear you," Alex replied, as they walked back to the table.

Olivia saw that, in addition to Munch, Fin, and Cragen, Alex's partner Robert Goren and Mike Logan were also now seated at the table. Logan didn't so much as sit in his chair as he was sprawled out in it, taking a swig from his beer bottle, and looking for all the world like a conquering Viking just home from the raids.

'And he's sitting right next to my chair,' Olivia thought. 'Oh, fuck me….'

"Olivia, you remember Mike?" Munch eagerly said, like a tacky game show host introducing the players on Love Match. "Mike, Olivia."

"Hey Liv," Logan said, with a nod in her direction.

It took everything Olivia had to keep from stabbing him through the hand with a butter knife. 'Liv' was a name that she allowed only her closest friends to use. And for somebody whom she barely knew to start using it right off the bat was, for her, the height of presumption.

"Mike," she muttered, as she reluctantly took her seat next to him.

"Olivia's just broke up with her boyfriend, Mike," Munch said.

"Um, John…." Alex started to say.

"She's back in the playing field, eh?" Logan said with a smarmy smile. "Well, I suppose the dating game should be pretty easy for somebody like you."

Olivia glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Only that somebody as gorgeous as you must get her pick of the cream of the crop," Logan said, flashing her a grin. "Am I right, or am I right?"

Now it took everything Olivia had to keep from plunging a butter knife right into his eye. 'What did I do to deserve this?' she wondered.

"You must have a hell of a time fighting off all the babes, Mike," Goren jokingly said, "what with that dazzling personality of yours."

"I get by," Logan said with a shrug.

"I see you're still just as mild-mannered as ever," Cragen commented.

That prompted laughter from everyone, including Olivia. Yet she stopped laughing when she saw a familiar face walk up to the table.

Alex Cabot smiled as everyone bid her welcome. She then turned to Olivia and said, "Can I speak to you for a second?"

"Sure," Olivia said, as they both left the table.

When they found a private spot in a corner, away from view of everyone, Alex said, "I'm so sorry, Liv. I never meant to hurt you."

"Alex--no, you have nothing to apologize for," Olivia told her. "Like I said, we've both moved on. And if you're happy, then I'm happy."

"I heard your boyfriend broke up with you," Alex said, looking sheepish. "It wasn't because he saw us, was it?"

"Not at all," Olivia said. "My ex-boyfriend turned out to be a major twit, and I'm glad to be rid of him. I'll tell you all about it, but only if you promise to come back to the table and join us."

"Great, I'll also tell you about my fiancé," Alex said.

"It's a deal." Olivia escorted Alex back to the table, where Logan The Terrible immediately took notice of her. "And don't even think about it, Logan," Olivia told him, after she made the introductions. "Alex is engaged."

"Story of my life," Logan muttered, as he took another swig of his beer.

"Liv, we've been talking," Fin said, "and I've got just the guy for you!"

"Oh, here we go," Olivia said with mock-annoyance.

"No, no, he's perfect for you," Fin insisted. "But there's just one thing…."

"What's that?" Olivia asked.

"You don't mind it if a guy's got a record, right?" Fin asked.

Olivia merely stared at him with her mouth hanging open, dumbfounded.

Alex Eames fell forward against the table laughing. "You should see the look on your face!"

Fin burst into a large grin. "Just kidding, kid."

"Oh, thank Christ," Olivia said with a heavy sigh.

As she gazed at Alex, who sat next to her, amid the laughter from around the table, Olivia realized just how fortunate she was right now. She had her health and her close friends. And even now Lilly and her family were in her life on a permanent basis. 'These are the times we should cherish,' Olivia thought.

"Welcome back, Alex," Olivia said, raising her beer in a toast. This caused everybody else to join in on a welcome back toast to Alex.

"Were you away on a trip?" Logan asked.

"Uh, yeah, you could say that," Alex replied, with a twinkle in her eye.

When that provoked more laughter from around the table, a puzzled Logan glanced at Goren and asked, "What did I say now?"

**The End**

**A/N: **My thanks to everybody who read this story, and to those who were kind enough to send me a review.


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